Yevgeny Prigozhin’s plane crashes with mercenary leader on board, Russian officials say

Yevgeny Prigozhin was listed among the passengers on a plane that crashed while en route from St. Petersburg to Moscow, Russia’s Federal Air Transport Agency reported on Wednesday.

Reports of a plane crash near the village of Kuzhenkino in Russia’s Tver region first appeared on Russian Telegram channels. The Russian Emergency Services Ministry later confirmed that a private plane had crashed in the Tver region, killing 10 people on board, including three crew members.

Telegram channels linked to the Wagner Group claim that both Prigozhin and the mercenary outfit’s first commander, Dmitry Utkin (callsign “Wagner”), died in the crash. However, these reports have yet to be confirmed.

A Telegram channel run by journalist and celebrity Ksenia Sobchak was among the first to report that the aircraft belonged to the Wagner Group founder.

The Telegram channel Baza reported that according to preliminary information, the plane was an Embraer ERJ135 with the tail number RA-02795.

According to the Wagner Group-linked channel Grey Zone, the aircraft was shot down by Russian air defense forces. These reports have not been confirmed by official sources.

This is a developing story.