The Russian Federal Air Transport Agency has confirmed that Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin was on board a plane that crashed northwest of Moscow on Wednesday. A Telegram channel linked to the Wagner private military group has also issued a statement saying Prigozhin has been killed.
Though the state media claimed the aircraft caught fire on hitting the ground having being in the air for less than 30 min, the Wagner-linked Telegram channel Grey Zone said the jet had been shot down by the Russian military.
Russian state aviation authority Rosaviation has also announced a probe into the incident, stating that "specially created commission has begun investigating the circumstances and causes of the accident with the Embraer-135 aircraft, which occurred on August 23 in the Tver region." It added that the plane belonged to MNT-Aero LLC, which specializes in business transportation.
Prigozhin, the chief of Russia’s private military group Wagner, was once a longtime ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin. However, he morphed into a foe after the mercenary incited an armed rebellion against the Kremlin.
Meanwhile, the flight-tracking data show the plane purportedly carrying Prigozhin made erratic climbs and descents before it crashed. According to FlightRadar24, Embraer Legacy 600 stopped transmitting position data at 6:11 p.m. local time, likely due to interference/jamming in the area. The jet continued to transmit other data for another nine minutes.
It added that the flight leveled off at 28,000 feet and made some slight altitude changes. However, the last minute of available data shows the plane making erratic climbs and descents.
"After leveling off at 28,000 feet at 6:10 p.m. local time, the aircraft continued in level flight at consistent speed until 6:19 pm at which point the vertical rate decreases dramatically and the aircraft descends briefly. It then climbs to a maximum altitude of 30,100 feet before descending back to roughly 27,500 feet. It again climbs, reaching 29,300 feet before leveling off once again. It then descends, with the final data showing an altitude of 19,725 feet. The altitude graph below shows the final 32 seconds of received altitude data," the FlightRadar24 data shows.
"Even though the aircraft was not transmitting position information, other data like altitude, speed, vertical rate, and autopilot settings were broadcast. It is this data that provides some insight into the final moments of the flight," the blogpost read.