Russian state media on Wednesday reported that Yevgeny Prigozhin, the leader of the Wagner mercenary group's halted coup attempt earlier this year, was a passenger on a jet that crashed north of Moscow, according to NBC News, which was unable to confirm the report. The Russian Ministry of Emergency services reported that a private aircraft crashed in the Tver region northeast of Moscow while flying from the capital to St. Petersburg with "10 people on board, including three crew members."
The ministry's statement did not mention Prigozhin. However, the Tass state news agency quoted the Federal Air Transport Agency as saying that he was among the seven passengers on the plane. State-run RIA Novosti reported separately, "According to the Federal Air Transport Agency, an investigation has been launched into the Embraer crash. Among the passengers is the name and surname of Evgeny Prigozhin."
Reports of the crash broke after Prigozhin appeared to have given his first address since the mutiny via video on Monday, in which he vowed to make Africa "more free" and "Russia even greater on every continent." His whereabouts since the rebellion have been a mystery since his fighters captured the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don before starting to march to Moscow. The group had stopped some 120 miles from the capital after allegedly making a deal with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko. The coup attempt followed months of Prigozhin criticizing and mocking Russia's military, accusing them of incompetence throughout the war with Ukraine.
