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.
“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.
In June Prigozhin led a short-lived rebellion against Russia’s conventional army with thousands of mercenaries taking up weapons and marching from southern Russia towards Moscow with the aim of toppling the country’s military leaders.
The mutiny ended with a deal, mediated by Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko, under which Prigozhin was expected to move to neighbouring Belarus with some of his men.
He since then refused to cede command of Wagner, but mostly stayed out of the public eye.
On Monday, video circulated showing him apparently in Africa, which he vowed to make “freer”.
Here are things you need to know about the 62-year-old.
1. Born in 1961, in St. Petersburg, Prigozhin reportedly spent his 20s in a Soviet prison where he served nine years for robbery and fraud.
Who is Yevgeny Prigozhin, Wagner boss ?
Yevgeny Prigozhin, the man who led a failed mutiny against the Russian Army in June, has been reportedly killed alongside nine others in a plane that crashed in Russia on Wednesday.
Prizoghin, who is also the leader of the mercenary group, Wagner, was believed to be on board the plane, reports the BBC.
Here are things you need to know about the 62-year-old.
1. Born in 1961, in St. Petersburg, Prigozhin reportedly spent his 20s in a Soviet prison where he served nine years for robbery and fraud.
2. After his release from prison, he went into selling hot dogs in his hometown.
3. He later moved to bigger projects, such as a luxurious restaurant in St. Petersburg, which became a hub for Russian elites, including then-deputy mayor, Vladimir Putin.
4. He earned himself the nickname, “Putin’s chef” for getting awarded exclusive and lucrative government catering contracts for state dinners under the Russian Leader.
5. In 2014, Prigozhin set up a private military company Wagner Group.
6. Though he denied any involvement with the group until September 2022, when he admitted to having formed the unit.
7. The group was first officially acknowledged by Putin last year after the capture of Bakhmut.
8. But in June of this year, he got on the wrong side of Putin by launching an armed rebellion in Moscow, calling for the country’s top military brass to step down over their handling of the war with Ukraine.
9. The mutiny was quickly stopped after Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko brokered a deal between the two men, which resulted in Prigozhin being exiled to Belarus.
