Yevgeny Prigozhin– the head of the Wagner mercenary army that fought in Ukraine and has been blamed for doing Russia’s messy work in Syria and Africa and leading a brief mutiny against President Vladimir Putin– was killed on Wednesday, along with nine others in a dramatic flight crash.
However, there were speculations that the plane could not be tagged “ill-fated” as it had shown “unusual descent” in the last 30 seconds before it crashed near the village of Kuzhenkino in the Tver Region.
The Russian Federal Air Transport Agency has confirmed that Wagner chief was on board a plane that crashed northwest of Moscow. However, a Telegram channel linked to the Wagner private military group has also issued a statement saying Prigozhin has been killed.
Though the state media claimed the aircraft caught fire on hitting the ground having being in the air for less than 30 min, the Wagner-linked Telegram channel Grey Zone said the jet had been shot down by the Russian military.
Russian state aviation authority Rosaviation has also announced a probe into the incident, stating that “specially created commission has begun investigating the circumstances and causes of the accident with the Embraer-135 aircraft, which occurred on August 23 in the Tver region.” It added that the plane belonged to MNT-Aero LLC, which specializes in business transportation.
Prigozhin, the chief of Russia’s private military group Wagner, was once a longtime ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin. However, he morphed into a foe after the mercenary incited an armed rebellion against the Kremlin.
Meanwhile, the flight-tracking data show the plane purportedly carrying Prigozhin made erratic climbs and descents before it crashed. According to FlightRader24, Embraer Legacy 600 stopped transmitting position data at 6:11 p.m. local time, likely due to interference/jamming in the area. The jet continued to transmit other data for another nine minutes.
It added that the flight leveled off at 28,000 feet and made some slight altitude changes. However, the last minute of available data shows the plane making erratic climbs and descents.
