Yevgeny Prigozhin
director of the criminal Wagner Group, was on the business jet which was destroyed on the Russian border Russia in the early hours of Wednesday morning, Wagner-linked media reported.
Russian officials in the aviation industry also confirmed that Prigozhin was aboard the flight.All 10 passengers on the plane including the three members of crew – died during the crash. Eight bodies were discovered on the site of the crash following the initial investigations, Russian state news agency RIA Novosti reported.”According to the airline the passengers listed below were onboard the Embraer – 135 (EBM-135BJ) aircraft :… Prigozhin, Yevgeny,” said Rosaviatsia, the aviation agency of Russia. Rosaviatsia added that Dmitry Utkin, an associate of Prigozhin and a mysterious person who was Wagner’s chief of staff as well, was also on the aircraft with Wagner’s Wagner chief.
Wagner’s affiliated Telegram channel Grey Zone confirmed Prigozhin’s death by calling him an hero and a patriotic. The channel also said it was the hands of unknown people they called “traitors of Russia.””An investigation is underway in this Embraer aircraft crash which took place this evening at night in the Tver region. According to the list of passengers there is the surname and name of Yevgeny Prigozhin.” Rosaviatsia, the Russian civil aviation authority, stated in relation to the plane’s crash.
The jet was reportedly journeying to Moscow towards St. Petersburg when it struck the ground near the town of Kuzhenkino in Tver the region, which is more than 100 kilometers to the north of the Russian capital. This Embraer Jet model had only one incident over the course of 20 years of service and it was not due to mechanical issues. “It may well be that this crash was not a tragic accident,” stated DW Russia bureau chief Juri Rescheto. “He was a very powerful figure for the Kremlin. He was so powerful, the Kremlin was extremely unpopular and was able to publicly and openly question the legitimacy of conflict within Ukraine.”