Wagner mercenary group founder Yevgeny Prigozhin was listed among passengers on a private jet that crashed in Russia’s Tver region on Wednesday, Interfax reported, citing the nation’s aviation authority. All three pilots and seven passengers aboard the plane that was traveling from Moscow to St. Petersburg are dead, the state-run Tass news service reported.
(Bloomberg) — Wagner mercenary group founder Yevgeny Prigozhin was listed among passengers on a private jet that crashed in Russia’s Tver region on Wednesday, Interfax reported, citing the nation’s aviation authority. All three pilots and seven passengers aboard the plane that was traveling from Moscow to St. Petersburg are dead, the state-run Tass news service reported.
There was no immediate confirmation that Prigozhin actually was on board the aircraft. One person close to the Kremlin said the Wagner leader takes precautions, including the use of a second airplane. The reported crash occurred two months after Prigozhin, whose forces fought for Russia in Ukraine, led a mutiny that posed the greatest threat to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s nearly quarter-century rule.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy pushed back against criticism that its forces are too spread out over the front line, saying concentrating them for a single, powerful assault would leave cities vulnerable to Russian attack. Ukrainian troops are pushing farther into Russia’s defenses in the Zaporizhzhia region, with fighting raging south of the recently recaptured town of Robotyne, the General Staff said.
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