We’re closing this live blog now, and will be kicking off our live coverage of the Russia-Ukraine war and the reported death of Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin in a few hours’ time. In the meantime, you can read our main story on the crash here:
Summary
Here is what we know about the jet that was reportedly carrying Wagner founder Yevgeny Prigozhin, and crashed, killing all of its passengers:
The Russian Aviation Authority has confirmed that Russian mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin and Wagner chief commander Dmitry Utkin were on board an Embraer plane that crashed en route from Moscow to St Petersburg and was carrying seven passengers and three crew members. The crash comes two months after Prigozhin’s failed mutiny against Russian president Vladimir Putin’s authority.
All 10 people onboard the plane died, according to Russia’s ministry for emergency situation, Reuters reports.
The other five passengers have been identified as: Sergey Propustin, Evgeniy Makaryan, Aleksandr Totmin, Valeriy Chekalov, Dmitriy Utkin, Nikolay Matuseev and Prigozhin.
The crew have been identified as: Commander Aleksei Levshin, co-pilot Rustam Karimov and flight attendant Kristina Raspopova.
The plane went down almost 300km (186 miles) north of Moscow, according to Russian state news agency Tass.
Russia’s Investigative Committee has opened up an investigation into the crash on charges of air safety rule violation.
US president Joe Biden has been informed of the crash and said that he was “not surprised” at the news of Prigozhin’s death.
A building housing Wagner’s offices in St Petersburg lit up its windows after dark in such a way as to display a giant cross in a mark of respect and mourning. Flowers were left and candles lit near the offices early on Thursday.
The jet showed no sign of problem until a precipitous drop in its final 30 seconds, according to flight-tracking data.
The Embraer executive jet model that crashed has only ever recorded one accident in over 20 years of service, and that was due to mistakes by the crew rather than mechanical failure, according to website International Aviation HQ. Russia’s TASS news agency said the plane was a Brazilian Embraer jet.
Embraer declined to comment on Wednesday, saying only that “Embraer has complied with international sanctions imposed on Russia.” Sanctions block western planemakers from providing parts or support for planes operated in Russia.
