10
Loading video...
By Nick Mordowanec
Staff Writer
0
Share
Newsweek is a Trust Project member
See more of our trusted coverage when you search.Prefer Newsweek on Googleto see more of our trusted coverage when you search.
**Update: 8:32 p.m. EDT—**The Federal Agency for Air Transport of Russia announced an investigation into the plane crash. Russian officials have yet to confirm that Prigozhin was on the flight, although he's listed on the passenger list. The Wagner plane crash occurred hours after one of Prigozhin's allies, General Sergei Surovikin, was relieved of his post, according to the New York Times.
Original story:
Yevgeny Prigozhin, the leader of the Wagner Group, is reported to be among 10 passengers killed in a plane crash on Wednesday.
Read More
Russian Official Who Called Putin ‘Swamp Schmuck’ Expelled from Ruling Party3 min read
Putin Eyes Replacement for Top Military Chief ‘Fired’ After Wagner Mutiny3 min read
Russia Fortifying Secondary Defenses in Ukraine Amid Vulnerability Fears4 min read
A private business jet went down in the Tver region as it was traveling from Moscow to St. Petersburg, according to Russian state-sponsored media outlet Tass. The Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations or internationally (EMERCOM) was cited as the source confirming the crash and the number of casualties.
The BBC reported that Prigozhin was on the plane. Videos of the incident have circulated on social media platforms including X, formerly Twitter, showing a plane plummeting towards the ground and erupting in a cloud of dark smoke.
The telegram channel Gray Zone, associated with the paramilitary Wagner Group and its mercenaries, said that the plane was allegedly shot down by Russian air defense. The plane was described as an Embraer Legacy 600 business aircraft with the registration number RA-02795, said to belong to Prigozhin.
...
A second private plane belonging to Prigozhin, the Embraer ERJ-135BJ Legacy 650 with the number RA-02748 was identified on radar "cruising in the sky over Moscow." Shortly thereafter, it reportedly landed at the Ostafyevo International Business Airport near Moscow. It is unclear whether Prigozhin departed off that aircraft.
The first plane disappeared from the radar at 6:20 p.m. local time, according to Gray Zone, and dispatchers failed to get through to the crew on board. Air traffic controllers then reportedly notified the Russian Defense Ministry and air defense units.
Newsweek cannot independently verify whether Prigozhin was on the plane and whether it was shot down by Russian military forces.
Retired U.S. Lieutenant General Mark Hertling referred Newsweek to his post on X.
"Those reacting to Prigozhin *possibly* being on the downed aircraft needs to understand the 'loyalty' (because he pays well) he has from his mercs," Hertling wrote. "Putin support is slowly declining in Russia...this won't help with thousands of Wagnerites & their families."
A spokesperson for the Pentagon told Newsweek that they are aware of reports and monitoring the situation, refusing to comment otherwise.
Dmitry Gorenburg, a senior research scientist at the Center for Naval Analysis, told Newsweek that although Prigozhin could have been aboard the second plane that safely landed, he offered an 80 percent projection that the Wagner leader is dead and that Russian air defense systems caused it.
Prigozhin and former longtime ally Russian President Vladimir Putin worked together in Russia's war efforts against Ukraine dating back to the war's inception in February 2022. But a buildup of resentment between Russia's military forces and leaders and Prigozhin and his fighters led to a short-lived 24-hour mutiny on June 23 and 24 that resulted in a major rift between the Kremlin and the mercenaries.
The mutiny led to a negotiated deal between both parties that would involve Prigozhin and his men to seek refuge in Belarus, courtesy of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.
However, that transition never came to fruition as Prigozhin remained in Russia. A second "March of Justice" will be organized by Wagner fighters if the rumored Prigozhin death is confirmed, according to the Kyiv Post.
"For one thing, the deal was that he's supposed to not be in Russia," Gorenburg said. "If he's on a plane flying from Moscow to St. Petersburg, one could spin that's a violation of the deal. That potentially gets spun—not by the government, I don't think the Russian government will get involved in this—but some of the commentators on Telegram and that sort of thing. They might start saying he put himself at risk by not staying out of Russia."
Unconfirmed reports also say that Dmitry Utkin, a high-ranking commander and close Prigozhin ally, was also killed in the crash.
"If that's true and they're both dead, then it becomes much more questionable whether Wagner can continue as kind of an independent organization," Gorenburg said. "They may get subsumed by other PMCs (private military companies) more controllable by Russian MODs or Russian military intelligence. That could be the future."
Anton Gerashchenko, adviser to the Ukrainian Internal Affairs Ministry, posted on X that Prigozhin's death was "predictable."
Prigozhin, in a video pushed out by the Gray Zone, just teased a new "mission" in Africa involving his mercenaries and an expanded footprint.
Update 08/23/23, 2:44 p.m. ET: This article was updated with comments from the Pentagon, Mark Hertling and Dmitry Gorenburg.
View 0 Comments
Submit Correction
View Editorial & AI Guidelines