Ten people have died after a plane crashed in Russia, writes the Tass news agency.
According to information, the leader of the Wagner group Yevgeji Prigozhin was on board the plane.
All on board must have died according to Russian authorities.
The private plane took off from Moscow and was headed for Saint Petersburg when it crashed about 30 miles northwest of Moscow.
According to information to the TASS news agency,Russia expert Malcolm Dixelius: Yevgeji Prigozhin had been on board the plane. The details of the Wagner leader’s death are not confirmed but his name was on the passenger list. The Wagner Group writes in its official channels that the aircraft is also owned by its leader.
“A private Embraer Legacy aircraft traveling from Moscow to Saint Petersburg crashed near the village of Kuzhenkino in the Tver region. There were ten people on board, including three crew members. According to preliminary information, everyone on board died”, writes the Russian rescue service on Telegram.
In addition to Prigozhin, several of the Wagner group’s top names are said to have been on board the plane. Among others, the force’s co-founder Dmitry Utkin.
The Wagner Group claims in its official channels that the plane must have been shot down by the Russian military, information that has not been confirmed.
– It will be another dramatic chapter in this strange story surrounding Prigozhin. There will immediately be rumors that this is an attack and not a plane crash in general. There are many who have said that the situation that Prigozhin put himself in has made him have enemies and is a stray, says Malcolm Dixelius, Russia expert.
Another Wagner plan circulated over Moscow
In its official channels, the Wagner group writes that a second plane owned by Prigozhin circled over Moscow.
Flight data from Flightradar24 shows that an aircraft with a similar registration number and name to the one that crashed, altered its course sharply when the first aircraft crashed.
At 19.34 the second Wagner plane should have landed.
Claimed to be in Africa
As recently as Monday, the Wagner Group published a video clip in which Prigozhin claimed to be fighting alongside his troops somewhere on the African continent.
The post was one of the few appearances from the Wagner leader since the failed coup attempt at midsummer.
In the video, Yevgeny Prigozhin, dressed in military uniform, was seen talking about “making Russia even bigger on all continents and making Africa freer”.
– How the authorities will now handle this incident, if Prigozhin was on board, will be of great interest, says Malcolm Dixelius.
The text is updated.