Yevgeny Prigozhin, a Russian mercenary leader, was a passenger on the plane that crashed in Russia and killed all 10 people on board, according to Russia’s civil aviation authority.
His private plane was reportedly shot down by Russian air defenses, according to Wagner mercenary group-linked social media.
According to a post on the Grey Zone Telegram channel, Prigozhin died “as a result of actions of traitors to Russia”.
In June, Prigozhin led a coup attempt against the Russian military.
However, some experts in Russia and abroad believe the uprising was staged, and Prigozhin ended his “justice march” on Moscow on orders from President Vladimir Putin.
The plane crash in the Tver region, northwest of the nation’s capital Moscow comes on the same day that Sergei Surovikin, a senior Russian general, reportedly lost his job as head of the air force.
Although he had not been seen in public since the mutiny, Gen. Surovikin was known to to have good relations with Prigozhin
According to Russia’s Rosaviatsia aviation authority, Prigozhin was flying an Embraer-135 (EBM-135BJ) from Moscow to St. Petersburg on Wednesday with seven passengers and three crew members.
Dmitry Utkin, a senior Wagner commander who started the organization in 2014, was also listed as a passenger, the report said.
According to reports, the plane came down close to Kuzhenkino, a village located approximately halfway between Moscow and St. Petersburg.
Unofficial confirmation exists for a report that claimed the body of Prigozhin, 62, had been discovered and identified.
According to Interfax, the official news agency of Russia, all 10 bodies have been found.
There were two bangs and two vapour trails heard and seen before the crash, local resident said.
The plane caught fire upon impact, according to Tass news agency.
It was further stated that the plane had only been in the air less than half-an-hour.
Emergency services are searching the scene while an investigation into the crash has been launched .
At the same time, Grey Zone announced that Prigozhin’s second private jet had made a successful landing in the Moscow area.
Source-BBC
