Ten bodies found in plane crash linked to Wagner chief

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
25 Aug 2023 23:58

Molecular genetic examinations are currently being carried out to establish the identities of the ten bodies that were found.

A part of a private jet by the crash site, near the village of Kuzhenkino, Tver region, Russia, Thursday, Aug. 24, 2023. Russian mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin reportedly died when a private jet he was said to be on crashed on Aug. 23, 2023, killing all 10 people on board. (AP)

Russia's Investigative Committee said on Friday that ten bodies have been found at the site of the fatal crash of the plane that carried Wagner PMC chief, Yevgeny Prigozhin.

On August 24, Putin said during a meeting with Donetsk People's Republic chief Denis Pushilin that Wagner contributed significantly to the fight against Nazism in Ukraine and that Russia "will not forget" the contributions of the group's members.

Russia's Ministry of Emergency Situations confirmed that a private plane on its way from Moscow to St. Petersburg crashed in the Tver Region on Wednesday, announcing that the incident killed all 10 people aboard.

"During the initial investigative actions, 10 dead bodies were found at the crash site. Molecular genetic examinations are being carried out to establish their identities," the committee said in a statement, adding that flight recorders have been located.

The committee added that documents and items are crucial for tracing the causes of the crash.

"The investigation will carefully evaluate all possible versions of what happened," the statement read.

Earlier in the day, Russian sources reported that the body of Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin had been identified in a Russian morgue by a commander of the PMC group.

According to the VChK-OGPU Telegram channel, a missing part of Prigozhin's finger on his left hand, an injury he suffered during his time at a penal colony decades ago, helped identify him.

As for Dmitry Utkin, the co-founder whom the Wagner Group is named after, was identified by his tattoos, according to the channel.

The morgue, which houses both bodies after the plane crash that killed all 10 on board in the Tver region, has been cordoned off by police.

Rumors initially pointed to Prigozhin potentially dodging death by using a body double or registering for a flight he didn't intend to be on to divert possible assassinations.

However, on Thursday, newly surfaced evidence revealed that he was on board the doomed plane, and Wagner confirmed that Prigozhin's phone was found next to one of the bodies.