Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin on list of passengers on plane that crashed: Russian agencies

A private Embraer Legacy aircraft carrying Prigozhin was travelling from Moscow to Saint Petersburg when it crashed near the village of Kuzhenkino in the Tver Region

Updated - August 24, 2023 05:59 pm IST - Moscow

In this image taken from video released on August 21, 2023, Yevgeny Prigozhin, the owner of the Wagner Group military company speaks to a camera at an unknown location.

In this image taken from video released on August 21, 2023, Yevgeny Prigozhin, the owner of the Wagner Group military company speaks to a camera at an unknown location. | Photo Credit: AP

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”.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.