Several Telegram channels reported that the jet was shot down by air defense system
A private jet belonging to the Wagner mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin crashed in Tver region in Russia on Wednesday evening with 10 people dead, apparently including Prigozhin himself.
According to Russia’s Federal Agency for Air Transport (Rosaviatsiya), three crew members and seven passengers were on board of Embraer Legacy 600. The agency also told Russian state media that Prigozhin, who just two days ago recorded a video saying he was in Africa, was on the passengers’ list. Sources close to him, including Prigozhin’s press secretary, told media they couldn’t get in touch with him after the crash.
Several Telegram channels reported that the jet was shot down by air defense system. Another version is a terror attack on board. The reports also said that Prigozhin’s “right hand” in the Wagner group, Dmitry Utkin, was also killed in the crash.
The news come just a day after the Russian state news agency RIA reported that Sergei Surovikin, nicknamed “General Armageddon,” had been relieved of his post as the head of Russia’s aerospace forces. Surovikin was missing from public eye since the Wagner group short-lived mutiny. There were unofficial reports that he was detained over allegedly supporting Prigozhin.
i24
