A Kremlin spokesperson has denied claims that the Russian government was involved in the killing of mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin. Some analysts had suggested that President Vladimir Putin ordered his assassination.

Prigozhin and nine others were killed on Wednesday when the business jet they were on crashed northwest of Moscow. Many Western analysts have come to believe that the crash was orchestrated by Russia's security agency. They have suggested that it was revenge for Prigozhin and other members of his Wagner mercenary group staging a mutiny in June.

However, Russian Presidential Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov said on Friday that those claims are an "absolute lie."

Peskov said, "When covering this issue, it is necessary to rely exclusively on facts. And there are not many facts yet."

The president of neighboring Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, played a role in negotiating an end to the mutiny. He said he had warned Prigozhin that Russian agents would "squash" him "like a bug." However, he now claims that Putin is not to blame.

Lukashenko said, "I know Putin. He is a prudent, very calm, and even a slow person when making decisions on other, less complex issues. So, I cannot imagine that he did it."

The Wagner Group played a large role in the war in Ukraine, fighting alongside regular Russian forces. Analysts with the British defense ministry said on Friday that Prigozhin's death will destabilize the organization. They believe that none of his potential successors have the same "audacity" and "brutality."