Yevgeny Prigozhin, the notorious Russian mercenary leader believed to be on board a plane that crashed Wednesday, has been confirmed dead by Russian authorities.
Though Prigozhin, the head of the Wagner private military company, was one of 10 people listed on the plane’s flight manifest, Russian officials refrained from verifying his death until genetic testing was completed.
Russia’s Investigative Committee confirmed Sunday that the remains of all 10 passengers listed on board were found in the wreckage.
The crash came two months to the day after Prigozhin’s short-lived mutiny against the Russian military establishment. The insurrection was the greatest challenge to Russian leader Vladimir Putin’s authority in more than two decades of power.
Prigozhin’s uprising ended up lasting just hours, thanks to a deal negotiated by Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko, a Putin ally. Lukashenko said he talked his Russian counterpart out of destroying Wagner and convinced him to allow Prigozhin to leave Russia for Belarus to end the standoff.
The mutiny prompted some in the West, including US President Joe Biden, to suggest the Kremlin might be behind the crash, speculation Putin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov called an “absolute lie.”
To date, no evidence has been presented that points to the involvement of the Kremlin or Russian security services in the crash. The cause of the incident remains unknown and Russian authorities say they have launched a criminal investigation.
