Yevgeny Prigozhin − the wealthy leader of the mercenary Wagner Group who was an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin until leading a failed insurrection in June − was listed among the passengers in the crash of a business jet that killed 10 in Russia on Wednesday. But it wasn’t immediately clear whether he was on board, authorities said.
Unconfirmed media reports said the jet belonged to Prigozhin, who led his forces on a march that came within 120 of Moscow before turning around June 24. Prigozhin and the Wagner soldiers were granted asylum in Belarus as part of a deal to end the rebellion, but he was later seen in St. Petersburg.
Wednesday’s flight was headed from Moscow to St. Petersburg and Russia’s civilian aviation regulator, Rosaviatsia, said Prigozhin was on the passenger list. It’s not certain that he actually boarded the flight, which went down in the Tver region more than 60 miles north of Moscow.
Russia’s state news agency Tass cited emergency officials as saying the plane carried three pilots and seven passengers. The authorities said they were investigating the crash.
