Wagner Group chief listed among those killed in plane crash
Mercenary Leader Yevgeny Prigozhin died on a plane crash in North Moscow
In a recent article published by US News, MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russian mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin is dead, a Telegram channel affiliated with his Wagner mercenary group reported on Wednesday.
A post in the Grey Zone channel said that the Russian mercenary leader of Wagner Group, a Hero of Russia, a true patriot of his Motherland – Yevgeny Viktorovich Prigozhin died as a result of the actions of traitors to Russia. He added that the Russian mercenary leader will be the best.
Russian authorities confirmed that the Russian mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin, the leader of the violent Wagner mercenary group who in June led his fighters on an aborted mutinous march to Moscow died on a plane crash. Russian mercenary leader Prigozhin was listed as a passenger on a private jet which crashed on Wednesday evening north of Moscow with no survivors.
While the agency listed the Russian mercenary leader Prigozhin as having been on the flight, NBC News has not confirmed that Russian mercenary leader was. But if it proves true, it is a sudden and shocking end for the onetime ally of President Vladimir Putin and global warlord, whose group fought on the front lines in Ukraine.
Few hours after the crash, a Telegram channel connected with the Wagner Group claimed that Russian mercenary leader Prigozhin had died. Russian officials were unavailable to comment, but an official investigation had been conducted. Keir Giles, a Russia expert with the international affairs think tank Chatham House, put caution over the reports of the Russian mercenary leader Prigozhin’s death.
Russian mercenary leader Prigozhin’s whereabouts and fate remained unknown since Wagner fighters captured the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don exactly two months ago, on June 23, and began to march on Moscow before stopping around 120 miles south of the capital. Russian mercenary leader Prigozhin and Putin allegedly reached a deal brokered by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko. The agreement stipulated that Prigozhin would go into exile in Belarus and Wagner fighters — many of whom were former prisoners — either sign contracts with the Russian Defense Ministry or join him there.