Screens show images of Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of the Wagner group, ahead of the first Republican Presidential primary debate at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on August 23, 2023. Russian state-run news agencies on Wednesday said that Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of the Wagner group that led a mutiny against Russia's army in June, was on the list of passengers of a plane that crashed.
There are unconfirmed reports that Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin was among the 10 passengers aboard a plane that crashed in Russia's Tver region, north of Moscow, all of them feared to be dead.
According to Wagner-linked Telegram channel Grey Zone, the Embraer jet was allegedly carrying three crewmen, Prigozhin, and six others when it was allegedly shot down by air defenses in the area it was flying from Moscow to St. Petersburg.
The Russian Civil Aviation Authority also confirmed Prigozhin was on the passenger manifest.
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It can be recalled that the Wagner boss staged a failed mutiny against Russian armed forces in June, which resulted in his exile to Belarus and plans to enhance its Sahel operations in Africa, especially with the recent coup in Niger.
His last whereabouts were in Africa prior to the crash.
Meanwhile, Russian state media agency TASS said the plane caught fire on hitting the ground, adding that some of the bodies were already found.
The aircraft had been in the air for less than half an hour, it added.
This is a developing story. Please follow HNGN for more updates.
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