UPDATE: Wagner PMC Boss Yevgeny Prigozhin CONFIRMED Dead In Russian Plane Crash

UPDATE: Sunday, August 27 at 8:15 pm

The Wagner PMC chief Yevgeny Prigozhin was confirmed this Sunday, August 27, to have been among the passengers who perished in a plane crash in the Tver region of Russia last Wednesday 23.

Molecular genetic examinations conducted by the Investigative Committee concluded that the 10 dead passengers corresponded to the aircraft’s official flight log, as reported by tass.ru. This list also reportedly included his right-hand man, Dmitry Utkin.

‘As part of the investigation of the plane crash in the Tver region, molecular genetic examinations have been completed. Based on their results, the identities of all 10 dead have been established, they correspond to the list stated in the flight sheet’, confirmed the report.

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Wednesday, August 23 at 8:09 pm

A private aircraft that crashed in the Tver region of Russia this evening, Wednesday, August 23, is thought to have been transporting the Wagner PMC boss, Yevgeny Prigozhin.

According to the Federal Air Transport Agency (Rosaviatsia), the mercenary chief was among the passengers on board the plane that crashed in the Bologovsky district of Tver, as reported by TASS.

In a statement, they said: ‘An investigation has been launched into the crash of the Embraer aircraft, which occurred tonight in the Tver region. According to the list of passengers, among them is the name and surname of Yevgeny Prigozhin’.

We are following reports that a Russian Embraer Legacy 600 (RA-02795) crashed after departing Moscow earlier this afternoon. We are parsing granular data received from this flight. Initial data is available at https://t.co/ORQEMeHqO3. Note this flight was tracked with MLAT. pic.twitter.com/QelfRNwiB9

— Flightradar24 (@flightradar24) August 23, 2023

Video footage purportedly showing the fatal crash was published on several Telegram channels. The Embraer Legacy aircraft was reportedly flying from Moscow to St. Petersburg and is thought to have disappeared from the radar some 26 minutes after taking off.

The aircraft had 10 people on board

Emergency teams at the crash site have allegedly retrieved four bodies from the wreckage. It is believed that there were 10 people on board at the time of the crash, including seven passengers and three crew members.

The plane came down near the village of Kuzhenkino according to the Russian Emergencies Ministry. Preliminary reports from the department indicate that all 10 people on board perished. Employees of the Ministry of Emergency Situations were said to be carrying out search work in the plane’s wreckage, as reported by gazeta.ru.

Prigozhin is believed to have just returned from visiting fighters that he has deployed in Africa. Mystery has surrounded his well-being and location since an attempted uprising against Putin and the Kremlin was launched on June 24.

Telegram channels reported Prigozhin had been on board

An eyewitness confirmed to the Cheka-OGPU Telegram channel that before the crash of Prigozhin’s plane, two explosions sounded in the sky, similar to rocket fire. ‘There were two shooting blasts. When I heard the first explosion, I just raised my head and I saw sparks flying’, they said.

‘After the first boom, the aircraft began to smoke, and the second time, when there was an explosion, apparently, it was the engine exploding. I saw it circling and then it crashed’, they added.

Posting on his Telegram channel, Volodimir Rogov, the chairman of the ‘We Are Together’ movement, claimed he had been in contact with top Wagner officials who confirmed that not only Progozhin had been killed but also his right-hand-man, Dmitry Utkin.

He wrote: ‘Just talked to outstanding ‘musicians’. They confirm the death of Yevgeny Prigozhin and Dmitry Utkin. Kingdom of Heaven to the newly-departed servants of God Eugene and Dmitry’.

A video posted on the Baza Telegram channel showed an aircraft falling from the sky. They wrote: “Video of the plane crash in the Tver region. According to ‘Base’, the business jet ‘Embrayer’ crashed”.

Prigozhin organised a march on Moscow in June

His march on Moscow was subsequently halted around 300 km short of the city after intervention by Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko. The Wagner boss was allegedly given the ultimatum of going into exile in Belarus while his soldiers of fortune were offered the opportunity to join the Russian military.

Wagner units previously deployed in regions of Africa were apparently allowed to continue their operations. They support dictatorships and Russian companies dedicated to the extraction of raw materials in numerous parts of the country.

General Sergue Surovikin was removed from his post

If it transpires that Prigozhin was really on the aircraft then it looks like Putin has seen two of his major opponents disappear on the same day.

It was suggested at the time of the uprising that Prighozin had high-ranking Russian officers assisting him. One of those was allegedly General Sergue Surovikin who mysteriously ‘disappeared’ from public view after the failed uprising.

The Russian state news agency RIA Novosti, citing an anonymous source, reported that 56-year-old General ‘Armageddon’ Surovikin had been replaced as commander of the Russian Aerospace Forces by Colonel General Viktor Afzalov.

A report by the RBC newspaper quoted defence personnel as commenting: “Army General Sergei Surovikin has been relieved of his position in connection with his transfer to a different role … He is currently on a short holiday’.