Wagner Group leader and longtime Russian political power player Yevgeny Prigozhin reportedly died in a plane crash that killed ten people, Russian Civil Aviation Authority reported Wednesday.
🇷🇺 The Former-Leader of the Wagner PMC Group, Yevgeny Prigozhin is now CONFIRMED to have DIED when his jet crashed the Tver Region of Western Russia. pic.twitter.com/wJ2XV3ise9
— Jackson Hinkle 🇺🇸 (@jacksonhinklle) August 23, 2023
The plane was a private jet flying north of Moscow in the Tver Region with seven passengers on board as well as three crew members. According to Sky News, the plane was flying from Moscow to St. Petersburg. The Federal Agency for Air Transport of Russia, known as Rosaviatsiya, launched the investigation into the crash and announced that Prigozhin was on board, according to Russian News Agency TASS. Prigozhin’s second in command, Dmitry Utkin, was also allegedly on board.
BREAKING: Private jet carrying Russian mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin has crashed with 10 people on board.
No survivors.
Prigozhin was a media favorite back in June when he led led a failed rebellion against Putin.
“Wagner-linked Telegram channel Grey Zone reported the… pic.twitter.com/YuFcUlXGek
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) August 23, 2023
Prigozhin had just released a video statement after months of silence since his attempted rebellion against the military forces of Vladmir Putin in June. The video showed the Russian mercenary leader holding a rifle in an unmarked location, possibly Africa, and spoke about liberating the continent. He said: “[Wagner Group is] making Russia even greater on every continent, and Africa even freer […] We are messing with ISIS, Al Qaeda and other banditos.”
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A Wagner-adjacent Telegram channel allegedly posted that the plane was shot down by air defenses in the region.
According to a different Russian news source, another plane believed to be owned by Prigozhin safely landed at Moscow’s Ostafyevo Business Airport. It is unknown if Prigozhin was on board. “It would be a miracle if he is on another plane,” a source told Russian journalist Andrei Zakharov. The source also told Zakharov that Prigozhin was flying to Russia from Africa along with the entire command staff of the Wagner PMC.
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