Russian news agency TASS reported that 10 people were killed when a private plane crashed north of Moscow, while there were conflicting reports that Wagner Group commander Yevgeny Prigozhin was on board.

While the Russian Civil Aviation Authority said Yevgeny Prigozhin, chairman of the Wagner Group, was on the passenger list of the crashed plane, Russian website Redovka reported that Prigozhin may have only registered his name among the passengers. The flight boarded another flight for safety reasons.

The Russian Emergencies Ministry said the plane was traveling north of Moscow from Moscow to St Petersburg when it crashed.

And the Russian (RBC) channel reported that the plane that crashed in Tver, north of Moscow, belonged to Yevgeny Prigozhin. Photos of the plane crash surfaced on social media.

In initial reactions, Sergei Markov, a former adviser to Russian President Vladimir Putin, said Prigozhin’s death was a major achievement for Ukraine and that “all Russia’s enemies will rejoice.”

Breaking:

Russia shot down a private jet owned by Prigozhin in the Tver region.

Did Putin Kill the Leader of the Wagner Group? pic.twitter.com/whDlhgmYAu

— Visegrad 24 (@visegrad24) August 23, 2023

‼️ Plane belonging to Prigozhin (head of PMC Wagner) crashed in Russia – Russian media

The latest news from the Russian Emergencies Ministry is that 10 people on board have died.# Prigogine #Russian #Ukraine #Wagner Group pic.twitter.com/eqvTbcyuqX

– News from Ukraine (@uasupport999) August 23, 2023

Prigozhin owns a group of companies, including companies accused of meddling in the 2016 US presidential election. He, his companies and his associates are subject to sanctions and criminal charges in the United States.

Prigogine controls a network of organizations, including the paramilitary Wagner Group, which supports armed mercenaries in many parts of the world, such as Syria, Libya, Ukraine, and conflict zones in Africa’s sub-Saharan and Sahel countries. Look after the interests of Russian parties and Moscow.

Prigozhin’s fighters campaigned alongside the regular Russian army for months in Moscow’s war in Ukraine, which began in February 2022.

In the last week of June, Wagner’s forces declared a rebellion against the Russian military leadership and had already captured the city of Rostov in the southwest of the country, but the intervention of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko led to a de-escalation of tensions, and Wagner’s forces retreated to their forces.

The Kremlin reportedly promised Prigozhin immunity from prosecution, and one of the conditions of the amnesty was his return to neighboring Belarus. However, it was reported that Prigozhin reappeared in Russia on the sidelines of the Africa summit in St. Petersburg at the end of last July.