Wagner team leader Yevgeny Prigozhin was on a list of 10 crew members aboard a plane that crashed in the Tver region north of Moscow, Russia. The information is provided by the TASS agency, which is linked to the Russian government, according to Agence France-Presse.

There are no reports of survivors, but authorities have not yet confirmed whether a mercenary was actually on board and commanded a paramilitary group.

The head of the Russian paramilitary group “Wagner” Yevgeny Prigozhin led a mutiny against the top leadership of the Russian army in June – Photo: Handout / Telegram / @ razgruzka_vagnera / AFP

The Embraer Legacy aircraft was flying from Moscow to St. Petersburg when it crashed. According to TASS, there were seven passengers and three employees on board the plane. Yevgeny Prigozhin’s name was on the passenger list.

“There were ten people on board, including three crew members. According to the first information, all the people on board died, ”the Russian Emergencies Ministry reported on Telegram.

According to the same source, the plane crashed near the town of Kuzhenkono in the Tver region, northwest of Moscow. EMERCOM of Russia is conducting search operations.

The videos, whose authenticity has not yet been verified by AFP, have been posted on various Telegram channels claiming to be linked to Wagner. The images show burning debris in a field or a plane falling from the sky.

Wagner Group accuses Russia of downing plane

According to the Telegram channel affiliated with the group, the plane could have been “shot down” in the sky of the Tver region of the Russian Defense Ministry.

“It is reported that one of the private Embraer Legacy 600 aircraft belonging to Yevgeny Prigozhin disappeared from radar at 18:20, the dispatchers tried to contact the crew, but to no avail, after which the air traffic controllers notified the Russian Ministry of Defense. and air defense units about the incident,” he added.

In a video (see here) released by Russian media, a private jet carrying the mercenary boss was seen crashing. The authenticity of the images has not yet been confirmed.

Who was Prigogine?

Yevgeny Prigozhin, 62, was best known for leading the Wagner group in an armed uprising against Moscow in June and for being one of the protagonists of the war in Ukraine.

He led a rebellion against the highest ranks of the Russian army on June 23 and 24. At the time, President Vladimir Putin even claimed that the uprising could have provoked Russia into civil war.

Through aggressive public relations and frequent presence near the front lines, he recruited thousands of Russian prisoners to fight in the Wagner group. The paramilitary group first emerged during Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014 and includes veteran fighters from Russia’s elite regiments and special forces, as well as mercenaries.

Prior to that, he was also known as “Putin’s Chef” due to his company’s frequent food supply contracts with the Kremlin.

*With additional information from the R7 portal.