Russia’s Investigative Committee has confirmed Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin was killed in a plane crash. The committee said in a statement Sunday that after forensic testing, all 10 bodies recovered at the site of the crash were identified, and their identities “conform to the manifest.” Russia’s civil aviation authority earlier this week said Prigozhin, along with some of his top lieutenants, were on the list of those on board the plane that crashed Wednesday. “As part of the investigation of the plane crash in the Tver region, molecular-genetic examinations have been completed,” Russia’s Investigative Committee said in a statement on its site on the Telegram messaging app. “According to their results, the identities of all 10 dead were established. They correspond to the list stated in the flight sheet,” it said. Prigozhin’s private jet came down north-west of Moscow, killing all those on board. His right-hand man Dmitry Utkin was also on board the Embraer Legacy 600 jet, as well as five other passengers and three crew members, according to the passenger list. The Kremlin has denied speculation it was to blame for the crash. During a conference call with journalists on Friday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the BBC there was “lots of speculation” around the “tragic” deaths. “In the West, of course, this speculation comes from a certain angle. It’s all a complete lie,” Mr Peskov went on. Prigozhin’s plane crash comes just two months after his abortive mutiny on Russia’s top military chiefs, which culminated in a march on Moscow. President Vladimir Putin described that mutiny as a treacherous “stab in the back”, but later met with Prigozhin in the Kremlin and offered his condolences to the families of those that died in the crash. Once a businessman with a catering empire and an ally of Putin since the 1990s, Prigozhin went on to establish the Wagner Group in 2014, the mercenary force that has fought many of the hardest battles in Ukraine. More follows on this breaking news story.... Read More Who is Yevgeny Prigozhin? Wagner Group chief killed in plane crash Prigozhin's final months were overshadowed by questions about what the Kremlin had in store for him Wagner boss talks about ‘plane falling apart in the air’ in resurfaced clip fuelling conspiracy theories The Body in the Woods | An Independent TV Original Documentary The harrowing discovery at centre of The Independent’s new documentary
Russia’s Investigative Committee has confirmed Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin was killed in a plane crash.
The committee said in a statement Sunday that after forensic testing, all 10 bodies recovered at the site of the crash were identified, and their identities “conform to the manifest.”
Russia’s civil aviation authority earlier this week said Prigozhin, along with some of his top lieutenants, were on the list of those on board the plane that crashed Wednesday.
“As part of the investigation of the plane crash in the Tver region, molecular-genetic examinations have been completed,” Russia’s Investigative Committee said in a statement on its site on the Telegram messaging app.
“According to their results, the identities of all 10 dead were established. They correspond to the list stated in the flight sheet,” it said.
Prigozhin’s private jet came down north-west of Moscow, killing all those on board.
His right-hand man Dmitry Utkin was also on board the Embraer Legacy 600 jet, as well as five other passengers and three crew members, according to the passenger list.
The Kremlin has denied speculation it was to blame for the crash.
During a conference call with journalists on Friday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the BBC there was “lots of speculation” around the “tragic” deaths.
“In the West, of course, this speculation comes from a certain angle. It’s all a complete lie,” Mr Peskov went on.
Prigozhin’s plane crash comes just two months after his abortive mutiny on Russia’s top military chiefs, which culminated in a march on Moscow.
President Vladimir Putin described that mutiny as a treacherous “stab in the back”, but later met with Prigozhin in the Kremlin and offered his condolences to the families of those that died in the crash.
Once a businessman with a catering empire and an ally of Putin since the 1990s, Prigozhin went on to establish the Wagner Group in 2014, the mercenary force that has fought many of the hardest battles in Ukraine.
More follows on this breaking news story....
Read More
Who is Yevgeny Prigozhin? Wagner Group chief killed in plane crash
Prigozhin's final months were overshadowed by questions about what the Kremlin had in store for him
Wagner boss talks about ‘plane falling apart in the air’ in resurfaced clip fuelling conspiracy theories
The Body in the Woods | An Independent TV Original Documentary
The harrowing discovery at centre of The Independent’s new documentary
