Yevgeny Prigozhin, the Russian dissident Vladimir Putin labeled a “traitor,” is believed to have been killed when a private jet crashed outside Moscow Wednesday evening – less than two months after he led a mutiny against the Kremlin’s military top brass.
Prigozhin, the leader of the controversial Wagner paramilitary group, was on the passenger list of the Embraer aircraft that crashed near the village of Kuzhenkino, 60 miles north of Moscow, the TASS news agency said Wednesday, citing the Federal Agency for Air Transport.
“An investigation of the Embraer plane crash that happened in the Tver Region this evening was initiated. According to the passenger list, first and last name of Yevgeny Prigozhin was included in this list,” the agency stated.
Prigozhin may have owned the jet, unconfirmed media reports indicated.
There were 10 people on board the plane when it went down less than 30 minutes into its journey from Sheremetyevo Airport outside the Russian capital to St. Petersburg, officials told TASS.
The aircraft burst into flames on impact, according to the state run agency, which has been accused of spreading Russian propaganda during the Ukraine war
Thus far, eight bodies are believed to have been recovered from the crash site.
The investigation into the crash is under the “personal control” of the governor of the Tver region, Igor Rudenya, according to TASS.
Prigozhin had led his military group in a mutiny against Russian President Vladimir Putin on June 24, marching toward Moscow before the effort was called off around 100 miles before he reached the capital and the troops agreed to turn around and head back to the front lines.
The crash comes just two days after Prigozhin, 62, shared his first video address since the aborted coup.
The unverified footage of the mercenary in camouflage toting an assault weapon appeared on Wagner Group-affiliated Telegram channels Tuesday.
“The Wagner PMC (private military company) makes Russia even greater on all continents, and Africa – even more free,” the oligarch said in the video, which included a phone number for recruits.
The video is believed to have been shot somewhere in Africa, as a plane linked to Prigozhin is thought to have landed in Bamako, Mali, on Sunday.
The Wagner Group was hired by a local military junta in Mali in 2021, after UN peacekeepers and French troops were expelled from the country.
Prior to the footage leak, Prigozhin had kept a low profile since the June 24 mutiny that threatened to usurp Russia’s military heads over their handling of the Ukraine war.
Wagner fighters have suffered heavy losses in the conflict, where they are leading the assault on Bakhmut.
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While Prigozhin’s forces marched on Moscow, Putin denounced him as a “traitor.”
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko brokered a fragile peace deal between Putin and Prigozhin, who agreed to call off the march in exchange for pardons for himself and his troops.
Prigozhin also accepted going into exile in Belarus, though he was still in Russia as of July 6, the BBC reported.