Russia's civil aviation authority has disclosed that Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of the Wagner group, and Dmitry Utkin, the Wagner commander, were both passengers on a private jet that has crashed in the Tver region to the north of Moscow yesterday. The suspicious Moscow plane crash has claimed the lives of all 10 individuals on board, including the seven passengers and three crew members.

The Wagner group staged a failed mutiny against the Putin regime in June 2023. The coup, headed by Prigozhin criticised President Vladimir Putin’s handling of the Ukraine invasion and the performance of Russia’s Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and the chief of the general staff.

Speculation is rife among Kremlin watchers that Russian President Vladimir Putin had ordered the downing of the aircraft which was in flight for less than 30 minutes. A routine criminal investigation, separate from the aviation-related inquiry, has been initiated by the Russian Investigative Committee due to the nature of the aircraft incident.

Residents near the village of Kuzhenkino reported two bangs before the crash and saw two vapour trails. The channel reported that witnesses said they’d heard “two bursts of characteristic air defence fire” before the fall of the plane, “and this is confirmed by inversion traces in the sky in one of the videos”, adding that the information was preliminary. The Tass news agency said the plane caught fire on hitting the ground.

Russian aviation officials cited by media reports have not provided a reason for the crash, while some Russian figures have speculated it could have been caused by a bomb planted on board.

Interestingly, almost immediately after the crash, another private jet linked to Mr. Prigozhin, seemingly en route to St. Petersburg, made a sudden return to Moscow.

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