Vilma Stockvall
Updated 20:57 | Published 19:01
News
Wagner director Yevgeny Prigozhin is dead.
The group writes on Telegram that he died in a plane crash this evening.
- It is sensational, says Russia expert Malcolm Dixelius.
Quick version
* The head of the Wagner Group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, is confirmed to have died in a plane crash outside Moscow, along with nine others, including the group's founder Dmitry Utkin.
* The plane, an Embraer Legacy, was on its way from Moscow to St. Petersburg and had been in the air for about 30 minutes before the crash.
* An investigation is launched to find out the cause of the crash. Unconfirmed rumors that the plane was shot down by Russian air defenses are circulating.
10 people have died after a private plane has crashed outside Moscow, state news agency Tass writes.
The Russian Aviation Agency released information early on that Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin would be on the passenger list.
Shortly before 8:30 on Wednesday evening, the Wagner group confirms on Telegram that Yevgeny Prigozhin is dead.
The Wagner group's founder, Dmitrij Utkin, is also dead.
Three of the dead on the plane are cabin crew members.
At the same time, the rescue service tells the Russian news agency Ria Novosti that eight bodies have been found at the scene of the accident.
Wagner director Yevgeny Prigozhin in the film released on Monday. Photo: AP
- An Embraer Legacy private plane en route from Moscow to St. Petersburg crashed near the village of Kuzjenkino in the Tver region. There were ten people on board, including three crewmen. According to preliminary information, everyone on board is dead, the authorities write on Telegram.
According to unconfirmed information, the plane that crashed is supposed to be Prigozhin's own private plane.
The plane was said to have been in the air for about 30 minutes before it crashed. It then caught fire when it hit the ground, according to Tass.
Screenshots from video footage purportedly show the plane crashing and the burning wreckage.
It is currently unclear what caused the crash and it will be investigated. Tass calls the incident "an accident".
Unconfirmed information: Shot down by the defense
Films are being circulated on social media that are said to show the plane crash.
According to unconfirmed information on Telegram, the plane must have been shot down by the Russian air defense.
The Russia connoisseur: Sensational
Russia expert Malcolm Dixelius says this about the incident:
- It's sensational. It was perhaps not completely unexpected that something would happen to Prigozhin, but the way this seems to have happened, it is so dramatic that no one would have expected it.
- This puts an end to the Wagner group as far as you can see.
It is also clear that Prigozhin's dramatic death will set off speculation.
Prigozhin serves Putin at his restaurant in 2011. Photo: Misha Japaridze/AP
Appeared in video
On Tuesday, Prigozhin appeared in a video clip for the first time since the aborted coup attempt pförsöket in Russia during the midsummer weekend.
The founder of the Wagner group, Dimitrij Utkin, has also died in the plane crash.
In the clip, the 62-year-old Wagner leader stands in a desert area, wearing camouflage clothing with a rifle in his hands.
- We make sure to make Russia bigger on all continents and Africa more free, says Prigozhin in the clip.
FACTS
The Wagner group • Prigozhin • The rebellion against Putin
The Wagner Group is a Russian paramilitary organization, a private mercenary company founded around the year 2013.
The group was founded by oligarch Yevgeny Prigozhin, a businessman and former restaurateur from St. Petersburg with close ties to Vladimir Putin. He is also its leader.
Wagner has long had unofficial connections with the Russian state leadership. The group is believed to have been allowed to carry out missions that the Russian state or the army, for various reasons, did not want to take responsibility for.
Prigozhin has been called "Putin's boss" and is said to have earned millions on behalf of the Russian state.
The first time the Wagner Army received international attention was during Russia's annexation of the Crimean Peninsula in 2014, when it was noted that some of the Russian soldiers who entered there lacked insignia.
Later, the Wagner Army has appeared in many countries where Russia seeks influence, including Syria, Libya, Sudan, Venezuela and the Central African Republic. The efforts have been marred by accusations of war crimes.
The Wagner Group led a shadowy existence for a long time, but during Russia's invasion of Ukraine, it took on a more formal role, alongside and in some competition with the Russian army. In October 2022, a formal Wagner headquarters was opened in St. Petersburg.
In the spring of 2023, a conflict flared up between Prigozhin and Putin's military leadership, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov. The Wagner leader accused the Russian High Command of corruption and incompetence, and of deliberately withholding weapons from the Wagner forces in Ukraine – thereby indirectly causing the deaths of thousands of Wagner soldiers.
On June 23, Prigozhin announced that 25,000 Wagnerian soldiers would march through Russia—armed. The next day, Wagner forces took over the city of Rostov-on-Don, then continued north towards Moscow.
The column reportedly came as close as 20 miles from Moscow before a showdown with Belarus' Russia-allied leader Aleksandr Lukashenko caused them to turn back.
The settlement meant that Prigozhin and his soldiers would receive impunity and security guarantees, as well as free passage to Belarus. The war crimes charges were dropped.
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