Head of the Wagner group, Yevgeny Prigozhin has died in a plane crash, Russian state-run news agencies on Wednesday said
Prigozhin, was among 10 passengers onboard a private plane that crashed in the Tver Region .
The plane was traveling from Moscow to St Petersburg when it crashed.
“The plane that crashed in the Tver Region listed Yevgeny Prigozhin among its passengers, (Russia’s aviation agency) Rosaviatsia said,” TASS news agency reported, with RIA Novosti and Interfax issuing similar reports.
“There were 10 people on board, including 3 crew members. According to preliminary information, all those on board died,” Russia’s ministry for emergency situation had said shortly before.
Around 1700 GMT the ministry announced that a “private Embraer Legacy aircraft travelling from Moscow to Saint Petersburg crashed near the village of Kuzhenkino in the Tver Region.”
It said it was conducting search operations.
Videos on Telegram channels linked to Wagner posted footage — that AFP could not independently confirm — showing the wreckage of plane burning in a field.
Prigozhin,on June 24,led an armed uprising against Russia’s Military for striking Wagner bases in Ukraine.
In what was seen as a move to oust Vladimir Putin, Russian President, the Belarusian President, Alexander Lukashenko fighting alongside Russia in its war on Ukraine, brokered peace between the Wagner group. and the Russian government but Prigozhin has not appeared in public since then.
However, video circulated on Monday showing Prigozhin apparently in Africa, which he vowed to make “freer”.
