Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin on board plane that crashed in Russia, officials say
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Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin, who staged an unsuccessful coup against the Kremlin in June, has been killed in a plane crash over Russia, reports say.
Russia’s civil aviation authority said on Wednesday that Prigozhin was on the passenger list of a jet which crashed while flying from Moscow to St Petersburg, carrying seven passengers and three crew.
Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin has reportedly died in a plane crash in Russia.Credit: AP
All on board were killed, reports say.
Wagner-linked Telegram channel Grey Zone had earlier reported the Embraer aircraft was shot down by air defences in the Tver region, north of Moscow.
The BBC reported that Grey Zone said residents heard two bangs before the crash and saw two vapour trails.
Tass news agency said the plane caught fire on hitting the ground, adding that four bodies had already been found. The aircraft had been in the air for less than half an hour, it said.
Prigozhin led a failed mutiny against the Russian armed forces in June and had been banished to Belarus in a deal with the Kremlin.
On Monday, the Russian mercenary chief posted his first video address since leading a short-lived rebellion in Russia, appearing in a clip – possibly shot in Africa.
He was seen in the video standing in a desert area in camouflage and with a rifle in his hands.
The warlord suggested in the clip that he was somewhere in Africa, adding that “the temperature is plus 50 [degrees Celsius].”
He said Wagner was conducting reconnaissance and search operations and “making Russia even greater on all continents, and Africa even more free”.
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