Yevgeny Prigozhin was among the passengers on the plane that crashed in the Tver region, said Rosaviatsiya (Russia’s aviation agency), news agency TASS reported. RIA Novosti and Interfax have also issued similar reports. .
Russia’s Emergency Situations Ministry said a while ago, “There were 10 people on board, including 3 crew members. According to preliminary information, all the people on board died.”
Around 5:00 p.m. international time, the ministry announced that “a private Embraer Legacy aircraft traveling from Moscow to St. Petersburg crashed near the village of Kuzenkino in the Tver region.” He said that he is conducting a search operation.
Video footage posted on Telegram channels linked to Wagner, which AFP could not independently verify, shows the wreckage of the plane burning in a field.
According to news agency ANI, the Moscow Times, citing Russia’s emergency ministry, reported that a plane carrying Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin crashed in the Tver region, northwest of Moscow, on Wednesday. According to the preliminary information of the ministry, all 10 people on board the plane have been killed.
According to Rosaviatsiya, the Russian government’s aviation agency, a man named Prigozhin was on board the plane, NNI reported. Prigozhin’s condition and whereabouts are still unknown. According to the Moscow Times, the press department of Governor Igor Rudenya has said that, reacting to the plane crash in the Tver region, the governor has taken “personal control”.
In June, Prigozhin led a short-lived rebellion against Russia’s traditional army, with thousands of armed mercenaries marching through southern Russia towards Moscow with the aim of overthrowing the country’s military leaders.
The rebellion ended with an agreement brokered by Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko. Under this, Prigozhin was expected to go to neighboring Belarus with some of his people.
