The head of the Russian private army Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin (archive photo) Photo: picture alliance/dpa/Prigozhin Press Service/AP | Uncredited
From the BZ editorial team
According to a report by the state news agency Tass, a plane has crashed in Russia.
Ten people were killed, it said on Wednesday. Citing the flight authority, it was said that the head of the Russian mercenary group Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, was on the passenger list.
The Embraer machine on a flight from Moscow to St. Petersburg went down in the Tver region north of the capital, the agency reported on Wednesday, citing the Ministry of Civil Protection. The seven passengers and three crew members were killed.
Tass reported that Russian air traffic control had declared that Prigozhin was on the passenger list.
The aircraft came from the Brazilian manufacturer Embraer. So far unconfirmed video recordings are circulating on social networks, which are said to show the plane after the crash.
According to Prigozhin, the Wagner mercenary group was founded in 2014. During an uprising on June 23-24, his fighters initially made their way towards Moscow before an agreement was apparently reached with President Vladimir Putin.
with Reuters/AFP/dpa