23 August 2023 , 20:14
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The sighting of a second plane zig-zagging through the air and landing safely in Russia has sparked mystery after an aircraft carrying Yevgeny Prigozhin crashed - reportedly killing everyone on board.
This evening it appeared as though karma may have come full circle for Prigozhin - who just two months ago had tried to depose the Russian military leadership - after his aircraft carrying 10 people fell out of the sky in Tver's Bologovsky district.
One local woman reported seeing parts of the plane flake off as it tumbled toward the ground, as another said she saw two massive explosions ring out in the moments before its fatal descent. Another plane, which was also reportedly owned by the chief of the shadowy band of mercenaries, Wagner PMC, was seen zig-zagging through the air as it turned around over the Russian capital of Moscow.
Rescuers comb through wreckage at the crash site (RUSSIAN INVESTIGATIVE COMMITEE/A)According to Russian sources, Prigozhin was well-known for trying to deceive any would-be assassins, and often "confused everyone" by running additional flights while he was officially checked in on another charter. The Readovka news agency, which has been linked to the warlord, even said it was "premature" to jump to the conclusion that he had died.
One of the most important confirmations from today's incident came from Rosaviatsiya, Russia's aviation agency, who confirmed that the Wagner chief was named on the passenger list. There were said to have been 10 passengers on-board at the time, but only eight bodies had been recovered.
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Prigozhin was named on the passenger list, but he is known to have been ultra-concerned about security and often took different flights to those he checked in for (Twitter)
However, some sources close to Prigozhin have even lamented his death (Twitter)Among the charred remains was one corpse which was missing a head, and another with a face described as "shattered" by local media outlet BAZA. A source who had seen the wreck, said: “The infrastructure [of the plane] was not damaged, the tail fell off in one settlement, everything else in another. The wing also fell off, we don’t know yet what and where. Three people, the pilots, are torn to pieces, to pieces. The rest are in the tail section. Four bodies were picked open, and then it is still not clear. The plane burned out completely. Only the front part, windows and a piece of hardware remained, and a piece of the engine is lying on one wing. Everything else burned out. There is no other wing with an engine.”