Yevgeny Prigozhin − an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin until launching a failed insurrection with his Wagner Group mercenaries in June − was listed as a passenger on a business jet that crashed Wednesday in Russia, killing 10. It wasn’t immediately clear whether Prigozhin was on board, authorities said.
Unconfirmed media reports said the jet belonged to Prigozhin, who led his forces on a march that came within 120 miles of Moscow before turning around June 24. Prigozhin and the Wagner soldiers were granted asylum in Belarus as part of a deal to end the rebellion, but he was later seen in Russia and Africa.
Wednesday’s flight was headed from Moscow to St. Petersburg. Russia’s civilian aviation regulator, Rosaviatsia, said Prigozhin was on the passenger list. It’s not certain that he actually boarded the flight, which went down in the Tver region more than 60 miles north of Moscow.
Russia’s state news agency, Tass, cited emergency officials as saying the plane carried three pilots and seven passengers. The authorities said they were investigating. Russia’s state news agency RIA Novosti reported eight bodies were found at the site of the crash, citing emergency officials. Video footage showed the plane plummeting from the sky.
This photograph posted on a Wagner linked Telegram channel @grey_zone on Aug. 23, 2023, shows a burning plane wreckage near the village of Kuzhenkino, Tver region.
The White House said President Joe Biden has been briefed on the events.
“We have seen the reports,” National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said. “If confirmed, no one should be surprised. The disastrous war in Ukraine led to a private army marching on Moscow, and now – it would seem – to this.”
Prigozhin gained prominence as a caterer to Kremlin events, a role that earned him the nickname “Putin’s Chef,” before he founded the Wagner private military outfit. Wagner forces were instrumental in the grinding, months-long battle over the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, a source of Prigozhin’s frequent criticism of the Russian Ministry of Defense and its leadership.
Usatoday.com
