Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the Wagner mercenary group that led a insurgency against Russia’s army in June, is on the list of passengers of a aeroplane that has crashed in Russia.
“ The aeroplane that crashed in the Tver Region listed Yevgeny Prigozhin among its passengers,( Russia’s aeronautics agency) Rosaviatsia said, ” Russia’s state- possessed TASS news agency reported on Wednesday, with RIA Novosti and Interfax issuing analogous reports.
Still, it wasn't incontinently clear if he'd boarded the flight.
“ There were 10 people on board, including three crew members. According to primary information, all those on board failed, ” Russia’s Ministry for exigency Situations said shortly ahead.
The Embraer aircraft, en route from Moscow to St Petersburg, was carrying seven passengers and three crew, TASS reported on Wednesday.
At about 1700 GMT, the ministry blazoned that a “ private Embraer Legacy aircraft travelling from Moscow to Saint Petersburg crashed near the vill of Kuzhenkino in the Tver Region ”. It said it was conducting hunt operations.
Daniel Hawkins, a intelligencer in Moscow, told Al Jazeera that “ reports in the Russian media, unconfirmed so far, are saying this aircraft could have been taken down by air defence systems ”.
“ Prigozhin was among those on board or was at least listed as among those people on board.
“ Some intelligencers report they ’re in touch with his press clerk who's refusing to confirm that. A alternate spurt was also in the air that’s turned around and gone back to St Petersburg. ”
Prigozhin led a short- lived fortified rebellion against the Russian leadership in June, posing the gravest challenge ever to President Vladimir Putin’s two- decade grip on power.
Prigozhin had his mercenaries enthrall the Russian megacity of Rostov- on- Don and also transferred military columns marching towards Moscow.
He called the Russian military leadership loose and unskillful. He'd complained for months of shy munitions and inventories for his fighters serving on the frontal lines of Putin’s war in Ukraine.
At the time, Putin described the rebellion as “ disloyalty”.
But shortly before his colors reached Moscow, Prigozhin ordered a retreat after accommodations with the Kremlin, in which Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko acted as middleman.
As part of the deal reached to escape execution, Prigozhin and his Wagner fighters were offered sanctuary in Belarus.
The possible death of Prigozhin would not be a surprise given his falling out with Putin, a elderly White House functionary said.
“ We've seen the reports ” of the crash, National Security Council spokesman Adrienne Watson said in astatement.However, no bone should be surprised, ” she said, “ If verified. “ The disastrous war in Ukraine led to a private army marching on Moscow, and now – it would feel – to this. ”
Experts are still being conservative about whether Prigozhin was on the aeroplane that crashed. But some have said that anyhow of the outgrowth, Prigozhin has been a pronounced man.
“ We don’t know all the details yet, but if it turns out that it's what it seems to be, it’s absolutely no coexistence, ” said Colin Clarke of the Soufan Group, speaking to Al Jazeera from Pittsburgh in the United States.
“ Ever since the insurgency in late June, in which he embarrassed( Russian President) Putin, he’s been a pronounced man. numerous were surprised it( his payoff) did n’t be incontinently, but this is commodity that everybody allowed was ineluctable. ”
Key Points
- Report of alternate Wagner aeroplane over Moscow adds to confusion
- Two bangs were heard before spurt associated with Prigozhin crashed
- Chart The flight path
Wagner’s Prigozhin listed as passenger in Russian plane crash that killed 10
Yevgeniy Prigozhin, the Wagner mercenary group chief who led a short- lived insurgency against the Kremlin in June, was listed as a passenger on a aeroplane that crashed in Russia on Wednesday, Russia’s civil aeronautics agency said. The crash killed all 10 people onboard, according to the agency. Russia’s exigency services didn't incontinently confirm whether Prigozhin had been onboard and failed.
Why numerous news outlets have n’t reported that Prigozhin failed in the crash
Wagner Group leader Yevgeniy Prigozhin was on the passenger list for a private spurt that crashed northwest of Moscow on Wednesday, Russia’s civil aeronautics agency said, but there has been no sanctioned evidence that he boarded the aeroplane or that he's among those killed.
The remains of all 10 people onboard were recovered, Russia’s state- run Interfax news agency said on Telegram, but their individualities have yet to be blazoned. Russian andU.S. officers haven't yet verified Prigozhin’s death, and a Telegram channel associated with the Wagner Group advised against publishing “ unverified data and dispatches ” about his fate.
Experts, too, have prompted caution, as Prigozhin was known to have multitudinous passports and body doubles who traveled under his name.
“ Until we know for certain it’s the right Prigozhin, let’s not be surprised if he pops up shortly in a new videotape from Africa, ” said Keir Giles, a Russia critic at the London- grounded Chatham House suppose tank.
In October 2019, Prigozhin was inaptly allowed to be dead after an An- 72 military aircraft crashed with eight people onboard. He latterly resurfaced alive and well.
Mary Ilyushina, Robyn Dixon and Francesca Ebel contributed to this report.
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