Russia’s investigators confirm Wagner chief Prigozhin died in plane crash

Russia’s investigation committee said that the results of genetic tests had confirmed the identities of the 10 people who died in a plane crash and that they included the founder of the Wagner mercenary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin.

Yevgeny Prigozhin was said to be on the passenger list of a plane that crashed north of Moscow, Russia’s civil aviation authority had earlier said.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov described the incident as “tragic”, calling rumours of possible foul play an “absolute lie”. Russian officials opened an investigation into air traffic violations after the crash.

“Molecular-genetic examinations have been completed as part of the investigation into the plane crash in the Tver region,” investigative committee spokeswoman Svetlana Petrenko said.

“According to their results, the identities of all 10 victims were established, they correspond to the list stated in the flight list,” she added.

Once a low-profile businessman who benefited because of his connections to Russian president Vladimir Putin, Yevgeny Prigozhin moved into the global spotlight with Russia’s war in Ukraine as he headed the mercenary force Wagner. Among the other nine people listed onboard the Embraer private jet was Dmitry Utkin, who managed Wagner’s operations and allegedly served in Russian military intelligence.

The private jet crashed two months after Yevgeny Prigozhin led a brief mutiny against Russia’s army top brass. Russian president Vladimir Putin described the mutiny as a treacherous “stab in the back”, but later met with Prigozhin in the Kremlin. He sent his condolences to the families of those the aviation agency said had died in the crash.