Russian Mercenary Leader Yevgeny Prigozhin Feared Dead in Plane Crash
Yevgeny V. Prigozhin, the leader of the Russian Wagner mercenary group, is believed to have been killed in a plane crash outside Moscow on Wednesday. The private plane, an Embraer Legacy 600 business jet, crashed in a wooded area near the village of Kuzhenkino in the Tver region, killing all 10 people on board.
Prigozhin, who had led a short-lived mutiny against the Russian military top brass in June, was among the passengers listed on the manifest of the ill-fated flight. While Russian authorities have not confirmed his death, Western intelligence officials, Russian military bloggers, and a Telegram account linked to his organization all claimed that he had perished in the crash.
According to reports, the plane departed from Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport en route to St. Petersburg when it went out of control and fell from the sky. An unverified video released by the Russian state media agency, RIA Novosti, showed the plane seemingly plummeting vertically with a trail of gray smoke, though the footage did not capture the impact.
Further video footage shared on Telegram displayed the burning wreckage, matching the aircraft known to be used by Prigozhin. Emergency workers arrived at the crash site, and photographs from the scene showed parts of the plane, including a section of a blue wing or tail fin.
The Russian aviation authority has not provided any explanation for the crash but announced the formation of a special commission to investigate the cause. The passenger manifest listed seven passengers, including Prigozhin and Wagner’s top commander, Dmitri Utkin, as well as three crew members. Russian aviation authorities declared that there were no survivors.
Although the Wagner group’s Telegram account, Grey Zone, claimed Prigozhin’s death, there has been no official confirmation from either Wagner or the Russian authorities. A senior Western intelligence official, speaking anonymously, asserted that Prigozhin was indeed on the plane. However, American officials have refrained from confirming either his death or the reason behind the crash.
The Kremlin has yet to comment on the crash or Prigozhin’s fate. President Vladimir Putin delivered brief remarks via video link to a summit in South Africa but made no reference to the incident. Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov also avoided addressing the crash at a news conference in Johannesburg.
Prigozhin, who gained fame as “Putin’s chef” due to his catering contracts with the Kremlin and Russian military, had built the private military force Wagner, which had taken part in conflicts in Ukraine, Syria, Libya, and several African nations. In June, he led a short-lived revolt against the Russian military leadership’s campaign in Ukraine, which ended with a deal announced by the Kremlin. Since then, Prigozhin had maintained a low profile until recently appearing in a Wagner recruitment video prior to the plane crash.