Is Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin dead?

There have been speculations about the Russian private mercenary Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin’s whereabouts since he launched a failed rebellion against the leadership in Moscow last month, as a former official in the US claimed that he is likely dead or incarcerated.

According to a retired top US general Robert Abrams, the meeting which was held on June 29 and was confirmed by the Kremlin days ago was false.

While speaking with ABC News on a number of issues such as the Nato summit and Ukrainian conflict, he also delineated Wagner’s mutiny that occurred last month.

"My personal assessment is that I doubt we’ll see Prigozhin ever again publicly," Abram told ABC News.

"I think he’ll either be put in hiding, or sent to prison, or dealt with some other way, but I doubt we’ll ever see him again."

He also responded to the question about the billionaire boss being alive, the retired four-star general said: "I personally don’t think he is, and if he is, he’s in a prison somewhere."

“I’d be surprised if we actually see proof of life that Putin met with Prigozhin, and I think it’s highly staged,” Abrams said referring to the meeting that Dmitry Peskov confirmed days ago.

Russian government spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Monday Prigozhin and his companions met with President Vladimir Putin who invited 35 people to the meeting which lasted for three hours.

"The only thing we can say is that the president gave his assessment of the company's [Wagner's] actions at the front during the Special Military Operation [in Ukraine] and also gave his assessment of the events of 24 June [the day of the mutiny]," Peskov told reporters.

He said Putin had listened to the commanders' own explanations of what had happened and had offered them further options for employment and combat.

"The commanders outlined their version of what happened [on June 24]. They emphasised that they are staunch supporters and soldiers of the head of state and the supreme commander-in-chief. They also said that they are ready to continue fighting for the Motherland," said Peskov.

Putin has so far kept Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov in place, judging by appearances by both men on state TV — rejecting Prigozhin's appeals to sack them.

Prigozhin was meant to leave for Belarus under the terms of the deal that ended the mutiny. But Lukashenko said last week that Prigozhin was back in Russia and that Wagner fighters had not yet taken up an offer to relocate to Belarus, raising questions about the implementation of the agreement.

Former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo recently said "Prigozhin’s failed coup attempt put a target on the Russian’s back."

"I wouldn’t insure his life … Prigozhin clearly took a chance. If you’re going to take on the king, don’t do it with a Nerf bat. He did. It failed," Pompeo said on WABC 770 AM radio’s "Cats Roundtable" show.