Mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin, who led a brief armed rebellion against the Russian military earlier this year, was aboard a plane that crashed north of Moscow on Wednesday, killing all 10 people on board, according to Russia’s civil aviation agency.
Russian state television said in a statement from the Federal Air Transport Agency had detailed those aboard the plane.
The crash in the Tver region reportedly killed all 10 people aboard the plane.
Flight tracking data reviewed by The Associated Press showed a private jet that Prigozhin had used previously took off from Moscow on Wednesday evening and its transponder signal disappeared minutes later.
The signal stopped suddenly while the plane was at altitude and traveling at speed.
In an image posted by a pro-Wagner social media account showing burning wreckage, a partial tail number matching a jet previously used by Prigozhin could be seen.
Even if confirmed, Prigozhin’s death is unlikely to have an effect on Russia's war in Ukraine, where his forces fought some of the fiercest battles over the last 18 months.
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