Yevgeny Prigozhin, the Wagner paramilitary chief who launched an armed mutiny in June, has been reported dead in Russia after a private jet crashed in the Tver region near Moscow, killing all 10 onboard.
Rosaviatsia, the Russian aviation authority, said Prigozhin was among the passengers aboard the Embraer business jet that crashed last night.
The cause of the crash was not immediately clear, but Prigozhin's longstanding feud with the military and the armed uprising he led in June against Moscow would give the Russian state ample motive to take action against him. Media channels linked to the Wagner group quickly suggested that a Russian air defence missile had shot down the plane.
The jet was heading from Moscow to St Petersburg - Prigozhin's home city. Video footage posted online apparently showed it falling to the ground in a plume of smoke and erupting in flames.
The plane, with the tail number RA-02795, has been under US sanctions since 2019 because of its connection to Prigozhin.
The Wagner chief has been reported to have used the plane, including shortly after his failed mutiny, when it left St Petersburg for Belarus on 27 June.
Several Russian news agencies, including Baza, which is close to Russian law enforcement, said the seven passengers and three crew onboard yesterday were all killed. Officials later confirmed 10 people had died.
A senior Russian official in territory occupied from Ukraine said that Dmitry Utkin, a senior Wagner military commander, was also killed. A former military intelligence officer from the city of Asbest, Utkin was one of Wagner's first field commanders. He had been awarded several medals of courage by Vladimir Putin.
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة August 24, 2023 من The Guardian.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك ? تسجيل الدخول
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة August 24, 2023 من The Guardian.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
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