What we know about the plane crash linked to Wagner chief Prigozhin

Evgeny V. Prigozhin, the leader of the Russian mercenary group Wagner which staged a short-lived mutiny against senior military brass in June, was listed on the passenger manifesto of a private plane that crashed near Moscow on Wednesday, killing all 10 people on board. Russian authorities have not confirmed his death, but at least one Western intelligence official, several Russian military bloggers and a Telegram account linked to his organization said he was killed.

One ​​day after the crash, here's what you need to know:

What happened?

The plane that wrote M Prigozhin as a passenger left Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport around 6 p.m. Wednesday. local time, bound for St. Petersburg. It crashed in a wooded area near the village of Kuzhenkino in the Tver region, less than 160 km northwest of Moscow.

RIA Novosti , the Russian state news agency, then crashed. released an unconfirmed video that day that appeared to show an uncontrollable plane falling almost vertically from the sky, trailed by a cloud of pale gray smoke. The shaky video, which appears to have been shot from a cell phone, does not show the plane's impact.

The video footage shared on the messaging app Telegram appear to show the plane, an Embraer Legacy 600 business jet, on fire on the ground. The paint and a partial registration number, RA-02795, visible on the aircraft match an aircraft Mr. Prigozhin is known to use.

Rescuers were at the scene of the accident. Thursday, and photographs released by Russian and international media showed parts of the plane, including a section of a blue wing or tail fin.

The Russian aviation authority has made no comment. on the reason for the accident, and announced that it had created a special commission to investigate "the circumstances and causes of the accident".

Who was on board?

The flight The passenger manifest, published by the Russian authorities, indicated 10 people on board. Among the seven passengers listed were Mr Prigozhin and Wagner's commander-in-chief, Dmitry Utkin. It also lists three crew members. Russian aviation authorities said everyone on board was killed.

Mr. Was Prigozhin killed?

Grey Zone, a Telegram account associated with the Wagner Group, said Mr Prigozhin was dead. But there has been no official confirmation of his whereabouts from Wagner or Russian authorities.

A senior Western intelligence official said Mr Prigozhin was on the plane. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss confidential intelligence assessments, said the judgment was based on "numerous indicators" his government had assessed. US officials said they could not confirm that Mr. Prigozhin was killed in the plane crash, or why the plane crashed.

What did the Kremlin say?

There was no comment from the Kremlin on the accident or on Mr. Prigozhin's fate. In his only public comments since Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir V. Putin delivered brief remarks via video link at a summit of BRICS countries being held in South Africa on Thursday. He made no mention of the latest events in Russia or Ukraine. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei V. Lavrov did not comment on the accident during a press conference in Johannesburg.

Who is Mr. Prigozhin?

Coming out of prison as the Soviet Union was collapsing, Mr. Prigozhin began his post-criminal career selling hot dogs on street corners in St. Petersburg. There he befriended Mr. Putin, who was then a minor city government official.

Mr. Prigozhin went on to make his fortune in the restaurant business, benefiting from his continued friendship with Mr.