Prigozhin’s Body Pulled From Crash Wreckage, Russian Media Reports

The body of Wagner mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin was pulled from the wreckage of a plane crash Wednesday in the Tver region northwest of Moscow, according to multiple Russian media reports.

He’s one of 10 people aboard the plane who perished, according to Tsargrad-TV and other Russian outlets.

The private Embraer Legacy jet crashed in a fireball in a field near the village of Kuzhenkino, Russia’s emergency ministry said. Initial reports indicated all 10 people aboard the jet were killed and that Prigozhin was on the passenger list. Officials first pulled seven bodies from the wreckage but none were Prigozhin.

Russian aviation authorities released the names of all 10 passengers aboard the crashed jet: Sergey Propustin, Evgeniy Makaryan, Aleksandr Totmin, Valeriy Chekalov, Dmitriy Utkin, Nikolay Matuseev and Yevgeny Prigozhin.

However, they stopped short of confirming Prigozhin's remains have been recovered.

At least one Wagner-aligned Telegram channel is also reporting that Prigozhin is dead—and blaming "traitors to Russia."

“Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of Wagner Group, a Hero of Russia, and a true patriot of his Motherland, was killed as a result of the actions of traitors to Russia,” the Grey Zone channel stated. “But even in Hell, he’ll be the best! Glory to Russia!”

The Investigative Committee of Russia sent a team to the crash site, and they’ve opened a criminal case on violation of traffic safety rules and operation of transport, according to state media Novosti.

Prigozhin earlier this summer led a march of troops toward Moscow, but it reversed course after negotiations between Prigozhin, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.