Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin was among the passengers who crashed on Wednesday in Russia's Tver Region
Russia's Emergencies Ministry acknowledged that Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin was among the passengers who crashed on Wednesday in Russia's Tver Region.
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| Yevgeny Prigozhin, the founder of the Russian private security company Wagner (Photo: WAGNER ACCOUNT/ANADOLU AGENCY VIA GETTY IMAGES) |
Russia's Federal Air Transport Agency has confirmed the downing of the private jet.
Embraer aircraft flying from Sheremetyevo to Saint Petersburg
According to Russia's Emergencies Ministry, 10 people on board the private jet traveling from Moscow to St. Petersburg were killed. "The Embraer plane flew from Sheremetyevo to Saint Petersburg. There were three crew and seven passengers on board. They were all killed," an official told TASS.
The accident occurred near the village of Kuzhenkino in the northwestern region of Tver. Several Russian outlets have identified the aircraft as an Embraer Legacy 600, with tail number RA-02795, believed to belong to Prigozhin. This was not confirmed by officials.
Also, read: Plane Makes Emergency Landing When Pilot Dies in Toilet.
Rosaviatsiya, Russia's federal air transport agency, said Prigozhin's name was listed on the passenger manifest. Eight bodies have been recovered so far, Russian officials told RIA Novosti.
Rosaviatsiya said it had set up a special commission to investigate the cause and circumstances of the incident. It identified the plane as an Embraer-135BJ private jet, belonging to the MNT-Aero company.
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| Plane wreckage in Russia's Tver region on August 23 (Photo: Ostorozhno Novosti via Reuters) |
Yevgeny Prigozhin, the boss of Wagner is presumed dead in the crash of a plane that crashed on Wednesday night, Aug. 23, 2023 north of Moscow. The accident comes two months after he led a failed uprising against Russia's top military brass. Before the accident that allegedly left Wagner's boss dead. Prigozhin declared himself an enemy of Russia's top military brass and accused them of incompetence in Russia's war in Ukraine.
In a Telegram channel connected to Wagner, Gray Zone declared him dead. Prigozhin was hailed as a hero and patriot who was said to have died at the hands of an unknown man referred to as a "traitor to Russia".
Amid rampant speculation and the absence of verifiable facts about the death of the Wagner boss, some of his supporters blame Russia. Other supporters say Ukraine was behind the plane crash.
A building housing Wagner's offices in St. Petersburg lit up its windows after dark in such a way that it featured a giant cross as a sign of respect and mourning.
Prigozhin's death will leave the Wagner Group leaderless. This will raise questions about the fate of Wagner's future operations in Africa and elsewhere.
Russian investigators say they have opened a criminal investigation to find out what happened in the crash that left Wagner's boss dead. Several unnamed sources told Russian media that they believe the plane was shot down by one or more missiles.
Source: Reuters