Prigozhin plane crash. Russia confirms: He was on board the machine

Rosaviatsia, the Russian air transport agency, confirmed on Wednesday evening that on board the plane that crashed in the Tver region in western Russia was the head of Wagner's mercenary group Yevgeny Prigozhin and his “right hand” Dmitry Utkin, nickname “Wagner”.

The mercenary military company was named after Utkina. Rosaviatsia also published a list of the names of seven passengers and three crew members who flew the Embraer from Moscow to St. Petersburg. Prigozhin and Utkin are on the list. Ten people died in the crash.

Prigozhin plane crash

Eight bodies have been found so far at the crash site of the private jet. Earlier, the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations announced that all people on board were killed. The direct cause of the disaster is not known. There is information about the shooting down of the machine by anti-aircraft defense and about an explosion on board.

The Investigative Committee of Russia initiated an investigation based on an article on the violation of traffic safety rules and the operation of air transport.

The Meduza portal reported, citing journalist Andrei Zakharov, that "the entire command" of the Wagner group flew from Africa with Prigozhin.

Plane crash in Russia. Prigozhin was on board

Russia reported on Wednesday that a plane in the Tver region in western Russia crashed, in which Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of the Wagner mercenary group, may have crashed. The crash took place exactly two months after the so-called Prigozhin's rebellion.

On Saturday, June 24, mercenaries from the Wagner group, taking part in the aggression against Ukraine alongside regular Russian troops, occupied the headquarters of the Russian army in Rostov-on-Don, and then began to advance towards Moscow.

In the evening, Prigozhin announced a retreat and the withdrawal of the mercenaries to the field camps to "avoid bloodshed". This was supposed to be the result of a deal between the Belarusian authoritarian leader Aleksandr Lukashenko and Prigozhin, concluded in an agreement with Vladimir Putin.