PLANE CRASHES IN RUSSIA: PRIGOZHIN AMONG PASSENGERS − RUSSIAN MEDIA

A small plane has crashed in the Bologovsky district of Tver Oblast, Russia. Rosaviatsiya [Federal Air Transport Agency − ed.] claims that Yevgeny Prigozhin, the leader of the Wagner Group, was on board.

Source: Telegram channels Baza and Mash; Russian propagandist Ksenia Sobchak on Telegram; Kremlin-aligned news agency TASS; Podyem news agency

Details: The incident took place near the village of Kuzhenkino. According to Baza, an Embraer business jet has crashed.

A video of the plane crash and a photo of the fire on the ground have been posted online. It shows a plane missing one wing and falling vertically downward.

Russian propagandist Ksenia Sobchak, citing her sources, reported that the Embraer plane belonging to Yevgeny Prigozhin had crashed.

Quote: "It happened 15 kilometres away from Khotilovo. According to our information, there were three crew members and seven passengers. Whether Prigozhin himself was there is unknown," Sobchak reports.

Update: Later, the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Russia confirmed that a private Embraer Legacy plane flying from Moscow to St Petersburg had crashed in Tver Oblast near the settlement of Kuzhenkino.

Reportedly, there were 10 people on board, including three crew members.

According to preliminary information, all those on board died.

The Ministry of Emergency Situations of Russia reported that it is conducting search operations.

The propaganda news agency TASS, citing Rosaviatsiya, reported that Yevgeny Prigozhin was among the passengers on the plane.

The media report that, in addition to Prigozhin himself, his deputy Dmitry Utkin, who went under the alias Wagner, was also on board the plane.

Dmitry Utkin

Photo: Telegra-canal Podyem

It is reported that before the plane crashed, witnesses heard two loud bangs, after which a wing and a stabiliser fell off the plane. They fell not far from an abandoned farm in the village of Kuzhenkino.

The Grey Zone Telegram channel, which is close to the Wagner Group, claims that Yevgeny Prigozhin's plane was shot down by air defence fire.

A terrorist act on board is being considered a version of Prigozhin's plane crash, reports say.

Eyewitnesses say they saw an explosion in the air, after which the plane started to fall.

Baza, citing Flightradar, reports that the plane was not descending before the crash. It disappeared from the radar while gaining altitude.

Russian media reported that Prigozhin did indeed fly to Russia from Africa on 23 August, with the entire command staff of the Wagner private military company (PMC) allegedly on board. Reports also say that Prigozhin's inner circle cannot contact him.

Later, Russian media reported that the bodies of eight people were found at the crash site.

The second plane, belonging to Prigozhin, landed at Ostafyevo airport near Moscow.

The Embraer ERJ-135BJ Legacy 650 aircraft, registration RA-02748, reportedly left Moscow for St Petersburg at 17:19, landing at 18:27. A short time later, it flew back and landed in the Russian capital at 20:02. No information is available about the passengers on board.

FlightRadar reports that the plane was due to fly to Baku, Azerbaijan, on 24 August.

Agentstvo news agency notes that the village of Kuzhenkino, in the area of which the plane crashed, is located 50 kilometres from the residence of Russian dictator Vladimir Putin on Valday.

Meduza news agency recalled that on 23 August, exactly two months had passed since the mutiny of the Wagner Group. Prigozhin announced his "march of justice" on the evening of 23 June.

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