A business jet en route from Moscow to St Petersburg crashed on Wednesday, killing all 10 people on board, Russian emergency officials said. Officials said mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin was on the passenger list, but it was not immediately clear whether he was on the ship.
Unconfirmed media reports said the jet belonged to Prigozhin, the founder of the private military company Wagner.
Russia’s civil aviation regulator, Rosaviatsiya, said Prigozhin was on the passenger list. However, it was not immediately clear whether he had boarded the flight.
Russia’s state news agency Tass quoted emergency officials as saying that there were three pilots and seven passengers on board. Authorities said they were probing the accident, which occurred in the Tver region, more than 100 kilometers (60 miles) north of Moscow.
Prigozhin, whose private military force Wagner fought alongside Russia’s regular army in Ukraine, launched a short-lived armed rebellion against Russia’s military leadership in late June. The Kremlin said he would be deported to Belarus, and his fighters would either retire, follow him there, or join the Russian army.