Рет қаралды 4
Videos and flight radar show plane crash believed to have killed Prigozhin
Russian mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin was on the passenger list of a jet which crashed in Russia killing all 10 people on board, Russia's civil aviation authority says.
The plane is reported to have come down near the village of Kuzhenkino, about half-way between Moscow and St Petersburg.
All 10 bodies have been recovered, Russia's state-run news agency Interfax said.
The mercenary group has about 25,000 fighters.
The group has been active in Ukraine, Syria and west Africa, and has gained a reputation for brutality.
But several Russia watchers have described him as a "dead man walking" since the mutiny.
President Putin's initial reaction to his challenge to Russia's defence establishment was vitriolic, calling it a betrayal and a stab in the back in a video message on 24 June.
The deal did not mean he was safe.
"Revenge", commented CIA director William Burns, "is a dish Putin prefers served cold" - or words to that effect.
None of this, of course, is proof that Prigozhin and his entourage were deliberately targeted.
But given the circumstances any claims that his demise, if confirmed, was an accident will see a lot of eyebrows raised.
US President Joe Biden said he was "not surprised" by news of Prigozhin's possible death.
Prigozhin headed the mutiny on 23-24 June, moving his troops from Ukraine, seizing the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don, and threatening to march on Moscow.
The move came after months of tension with Russian military commanders over the invasion of Ukraine launched by President Putin in 2014.
The stand-off seemed to have been settled by a deal which allowed Wagner troops to move to Belarus or join the Russian army.
Prigozhin himself agreed to relocate to Belarus - but has apparently been able to move freely, making public appearances in Russia and releasing a video of him purportedly in Africa.
WOBIS PODIUM! Speak Out - We Listen.