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Yevgeny Prigozhin the director of Putin’s former shadow army Wagner PMC is feared dead after his light aircraft crashed in Russia today.
The plane was seen in a video falling out of the sky in the Bologovsky district in the Tver region. The burning wreckage was seen in a field. It was initially unknown if Wagner chief Prigozhin known as Putin’s chef and with longstanding links to the Kremlin dictator was on board.
A report from Rosaviatsiya – the Russian aviation agency said Prigozhin was among the passengers. Reports said seven were on board the Embraer Legacy 600 business jet.
At least three died but four could not be located. A later report citing the Russian Emergencies Ministry said ten had been killed. A loud bang was reported by people on the ground.
Earlier this week a video apparently showed him in Africa vowing to make Russian great by deploying his Wagner troops on the continent. Former Russian presidential candidate Ksenia Sobchak said: “My sources report that an Embraer plane belonging to Yevgeny Prigozhin has now crashed in the Tver region.
A local woman said parts of the plane fell off as it plunged from the sky“This happened 15 kilometres from Khotilovo. According to our information, there were three crew members and seven passengers. Whether Prigozhin himself was on board is unknown.”
Sobchak is known as Putin’s “goddaughter”. A local woman said parts of the plane fell off as it plunged from the sky. Another female eyewitness said there were two explosions before the plane fell out of the sky. A second Prigozhin plane turned around over Moscow, and was seen zigzagging in the sky.
Reports said that the war lord’s right hand man Dmitry Utkin, military commander of Wagner in and Africa, was on board the stricken plane. “Wagner is beheaded,” said a pro-war Telegram channel. People personally linked to Prigozhin confirmed his death.
But another source said: “Don’t rush to bury him.” There were even claims that the Wagner boss’s death could have been “staged”. He had been declared dead in 2019 in Africa – yet lived to fight another day.
“According to the data of the Flightradar service, the plane zigzags over Moscow and behaves unnaturally – with the feeling it does not know where to fly,” reported Readovka. “The second plane also took off from the Moscow region.” Readovka is a media outlet linked to Prigozhin.
MP Yevgeny Popov: “This is a terrorist act in the Russian sky. It must be investigated. The perpetrators must answer.” Prigozhin had been warned not to go into high buildings for fear of accidents after leading a coup aimed at ousting especially defence minister Sergei Shoigu and army chief Gen Valery Gerasimov. He is known to have used body doubles as part of his elaborate security measures..
@Mirror
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