(CMR) Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin (62), who led a failed mutiny against the Russian armed forces in June, is presumed dead after a jet he was to be on was shot down north of Moscow.
BBC reported that Prigozhin was on the passenger list of the jet that crashed, killing all on board, Russia's civil aviation authority said. Wagner-linked Telegram channel Grey Zone reported the Embraer aircraft was shot down by air defences in the Tver region, north of Moscow.
The private jet, which was flying from Moscow to St. Petersburg, was carrying seven passengers and three crew. Local residents reportedly heard two bangs before the crash and saw two vapor trails.
According to BBC, Grey Zone said the plane, an Embraer Legacy belonging to Prigozhin, caught fire on hitting the ground. The aircraft had been in the air for less than half an hour, it said.
An investigation has been launched into the crash, and emergency services are searching the site. Eight bodies had been recovered.
Grey Zone reports that a second business jet owned by Prigozhin landed safely in the Moscow region.
Prigozhin headed the mutiny on 23-24 June, moving his troops from Ukraine, seizing the southern Russian city of Rostov on Don, and threatening to march on Moscow. The move came after months of tension with Russian military commanders over the Ukraine conflict.
The stand-off was settled by a deal that allowed Wagner troops to move to Belarus or join the Russian army.
Prigozhin himself agreed to relocate to Belarus but has apparently been able to move freely, making public appearances in Russia and releasing a video of him purportedly in Africa, BBC reported.
President Putin described Prigozhin's challenge to Russia's defense as a betrayal and a stab in the back.
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