MOSCOW Russia August 24 -The head of Russian mercenary force Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, is among the 10 people who were killed when a private jet crashed north of Moscow.
The Wednesday August 23 crash in the Tver region, north-west of the capital Moscow, comes on the same day that senior Russian general Sergei Surovikin was sacked as Air Force chief.
The General was known to have good relations with the Wagner boss and had not been seen in public since the June 23-24 mutiny where Prigozhin moved his troops from Ukraine, seizing the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don, and threatening to march on Moscow.
Russia’s Rosaviatsia aviation authority said Prigozhin’s aircraft – an Embraer-135 – was flying from Moscow to St Petersburg with seven passengers and three crew when it crashed near the village of Kuzhenkino.
Senior Wagner commander Dmitry Utkin, who founded the group in 2014, was also one of the passengers.
Some local resident said they heard two bangs before the crash and had seen two vapour trails.
The plane, which had only been in the air for less than 30 minutes, is said to have caught fire on hitting the ground.
A probe has been launched into the cause of the crash, which occurred exactly two months after Prigozhin led his fighters in a short-lived mutiny against Russia’s military leadership.
US President has insinuated that President Vladimir Putin could be behind the crash. Other reports indicate the aircraft could have been shot down by Russian air defences.
“There’s not much that happens in Russia that Putin’s not behind. But I don’t know enough to know the answer,” Pres Biden said.
Following Prigozhin’s death, questions are now being raised about the future of thousands of his fighters deployed in Belarus and Africa. The group has been active in Ukraine, Syria and west Africa, and has gained a reputation for brutality.
Want to send us a story? Contact Shahidi News Tel: +254115512797 (Mobile & WhatsApp)
