Prigozhin listed as passenger on plane that crashed, killing all aboard, Russian authorities report

Yevgeny V. Prigozhin, the head of the Wagner Private Military Company, leaving Rostov-on-Don, Russia, after his aborted mutiny in June.

By Anton Troianovski

Yevgeny Prigozhin, the Russian mercenary leader of the private Wagner paramilitary group whose armed rebellion in June threatened the country’s leadership, was listed on the passenger roster of a private jet that crashed in Russia on Wednesday, killing all 10 people aboard, Russia’s aviation authority said.

Russia’s Emergency Situations Ministry said that the plane, an Embraer jet, crashed in the Tver region north of Moscow, according to the state news agency Tass. Minutes later, the news agency, citing Russia’s aviation authority, said that Prigozhin was listed as a passenger on the plane.

“An investigation has been launched into the crash of the Embraer aircraft, which occurred tonight in the Tver region,” Russia’s Federal Air Transport Agency said, Tass reported. “According to the list of passengers, among them is the name and surname of Yevgeny Prigozhin.”

The Embraer jet was traveling from Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport to St. Petersburg, Russia, and crashed less than 30 minutes after takeoff, Tass said.

Prigozhin, an outspoken tycoon, built the private paramilitary force that has fought on Russia’s behalf in Ukraine and across Africa. Frustrated over the country’s military leadership, he instigated a short rebellion two months ago, a mutiny that posed a grave threat to the government of Russian President Vladimir Putin.