Evgeny Prigozhin, the founder of the Wagner Group, was reported as being on board the private jet that crashed on Wednesday in western Russia
The moment a business plane crashed in the Tver Region of Russia, with Wagner private military firm chief Evgeny Prigozhin purportedly listed as one of the passengers, has reportedly been captured on camera and published by several social media platforms.
The Embraer Legacy 600 jet may be seen falling towards the ground in a series of brief videos posted by the Mash and Baza Telegram accounts.
Although it’s unclear which area of the plane had caught fire, black smoke could be seen flowing from it.
Prigozhin plane crash ✈️
— Vattaj.com (@vattaj) August 23, 2023
‘Wagner boss plane disaster’ is depicted on video
More: https://t.co/cc21qUSTGq #Russia #Wagner #planecrash pic.twitter.com/IocVx3pLBb
One of the clips also shows the wreckage of the plane lying in a field and engulfed in flames.
A large plume of black smoke can be seen billowing over the crash site.
The accident happened near the village of Kuzhenkino in Tver Region, northwest of the capital Moscow. Some Russian media have identified the aircraft as an Embraer Legacy 600 with the tail number RA-02795.
The plane reportedly belonged to Prigozhin.
The Russian Federal Civil Air Traffic Agency (Rosaviatsiya) confirmed that the Wagner Group founder was listed among the passengers scheduled to fly on the jet.
The Russian Emergencies Ministry said that all 10 people on board – including three crew members – died in the crash. It is still unclear if Prigozhin was among the victims.
According to the Emergencies Ministry, the aircraft was flying from Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport to St. Petersburg.
