Mercenary Chief who staged mutiny in Russia is listed as a passenger on a plane that crashed, state media says.
Yevgeny Prigozhin, the Chief of Russian mercenary group Wagner, was on the passenger list of a plane that crashed northwest of Moscow, killing all 10 on board, according to Russian state media.
“An investigation has been launched into the crash of the Embraer aircraft, which occurred tonight in the Tver region,” the Federal Air Transport Agency said in a statement, according to the official state news agency TASS. “According to the list of passengers, among them is the name and surname of Yevgeny Prigozhin.”
There were seven passengers and three crew members on board the private Embraer jet when it crashed near the village of Kuzhenkino, in the Tver region, on Wednesday, according to the Russian Ministry of Emergency Services. All on board were killed, according to preliminary information, the ministry said, adding that they “are conducting search operations.”
The authorities did not confirm whether Prigozhin was on the plane when it crashed.
The bodies of four people have been found at the crash site, TASS reported, citing emergency services. It added that the plane “burned up” on impact after being in the air for about half-an-hour.
Russian investigators have initiated a criminal case following the crash. The Russian Investigative Committee said that a team was on the way to the scene to “establish the causes of the crash.”
The crash comes months after Prigozhin launched an abortive mutiny against Russia’s military leadership, posing an unprecedented challenge to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s authority before it was suddenly called off in a deal that required the Wagner chief and his fighters to relocate to Belarus.
The bodies of four people have been found at the crash site, TASS reported, citing emergency services. It added that the plane “burned up” on impact after being in the air for about half-an-hour.
Russian investigators have initiated a criminal case following the crash. The Russian Investigative Committee said that a team was on the way to the scene to “establish the causes of the crash.”
The crash comes months after Prigozhin launched an abortive mutiny against Russia’s military leadership, posing an unprecedented challenge to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s authority before it was suddenly called off in a deal that required the Wagner chief and his fighters to relocate to Belarus.
Wagner forces were heavily involved in capturing the eastern Ukrainian cities of Soledar and Bakhmut following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine last year. Prigozhin then spent months criticizing Russian military leadership and the support it was giving his troops before he called for the armed rebellion.
CNN / Titilayo Kupoliyi
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