Russian authorities have confirmed that Wagner boss, Yevgeny Prigozhin, who attempted to lead a rebellion against Russia’s military, was killed in an explosive plane crash outside Moscow last week.
According to the Russian Investigative Committee, forensic and genetic testing identified all 10 bodies recovered from the site of Wednesday’s crash and determined they belonged to those listed on the flight log.
The aircraft burst into flames on impact, less than 30 minutes into its journey, with the passengers and crew aboard the plane. The crash had no survivors.
The crash took place just two days after Prigozhin shared his first video address since his failed attempt at a coup two months ago.
Speaking about the incident, Russian President Vladimir Putin said:
“It is always a tragedy. I have known Prigozhin for many years, since the beginning of the 1990s. He was a person with a complicated background.”
“He made serious mistakes in his life and he achieved the necessary results, both for himself and, when I asked him, for the common cause, as during the past few months,” he added.
Putin also expressed condolences to other Wagner fighters who had died in the crash.
“Indeed, if they were there and, according to the initial information, Wagner Company employees were on board, I want to note that those people made a significant contribution to our common cause of fighting the Nazi regime in Ukraine,” Putin said.
