Russian Mercenary Chief Prigozhin Listed as Passenger on Plane Which Crashed with No Survivors

24 June 2023, Russia, Rostov-on-Don: A screen grab from a video released by Prigozhin Press Service, shows Wagner paramilitary boss Yevgeny Prigozhin, delivering a video speech in Rostov-on-Don. (Prigozhin Press Service/dpa)
24 June 2023, Russia, Rostov-on-Don: A screen grab from a video released by Prigozhin Press Service, shows Wagner paramilitary boss Yevgeny Prigozhin, delivering a video speech in Rostov-on-Don. (Prigozhin Press Service/dpa)
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Russian Mercenary Chief Prigozhin Listed as Passenger on Plane Which Crashed with No Survivors

24 June 2023, Russia, Rostov-on-Don: A screen grab from a video released by Prigozhin Press Service, shows Wagner paramilitary boss Yevgeny Prigozhin, delivering a video speech in Rostov-on-Don. (Prigozhin Press Service/dpa)
24 June 2023, Russia, Rostov-on-Don: A screen grab from a video released by Prigozhin Press Service, shows Wagner paramilitary boss Yevgeny Prigozhin, delivering a video speech in Rostov-on-Don. (Prigozhin Press Service/dpa)

Russian mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin was listed as a passenger on a private jet which crashed on Wednesday evening north of Moscow with no survivors, the Russian authorities said.

There was no confirmation that Prigozhin was physically on board and Reuters could not immediately confirm that he was on the aircraft, which crashed north of Moscow.

"An investigation has been launched into an Embraer plane crash that occurred tonight in the Tver region. According to the passenger list, the name and surname of Yevgeny Prigozhin is among them," Rosaviatsia, Russia's aviation agency, was cited as saying by the state TASS news agency.

Russia's emergency situations ministry said in a statement that a private Embraer Legacy aircraft travelling from Moscow to St. Petersburg had crashed near the village of Kuzhenkino in the Tver Region.

It said that 10 people had been on board, including three crew members. According to preliminary information, everyone on board had been killed, it said.

Prigozhin, 62, spearheaded a mutiny against Russia's top army brass on June 23-24 which President Vladimir Putin said could have tipped Russia into civil war.

The mutiny was ended by negotiations and an apparent Kremlin deal which saw Prigozhin agree to relocate to neighboring Belarus. But he had appeared to move freely inside Russia after the deal nonetheless.

Prigozhin, who had sought to topple Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Valery Gerasimov, chief of the general staff, on Monday posted a video address which he suggested was shot in Africa.



Commander of Iran’s Quds Force Is ‘In Good Health’, Force’s Deputy Commander Says

Brigadier General Esmail Qaani, the head of the Revolutionary Guards' Quds Force, speaks during a ceremony marking the anniversary of the death of senior Iranian military commander Mohammad Hejazi, in Tehran, Iran April 14, 2022. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
Brigadier General Esmail Qaani, the head of the Revolutionary Guards' Quds Force, speaks during a ceremony marking the anniversary of the death of senior Iranian military commander Mohammad Hejazi, in Tehran, Iran April 14, 2022. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
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Commander of Iran’s Quds Force Is ‘In Good Health’, Force’s Deputy Commander Says

Brigadier General Esmail Qaani, the head of the Revolutionary Guards' Quds Force, speaks during a ceremony marking the anniversary of the death of senior Iranian military commander Mohammad Hejazi, in Tehran, Iran April 14, 2022. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
Brigadier General Esmail Qaani, the head of the Revolutionary Guards' Quds Force, speaks during a ceremony marking the anniversary of the death of senior Iranian military commander Mohammad Hejazi, in Tehran, Iran April 14, 2022. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters

The top commander of Iran's Quds Force Esmail Qaani is in "good health", the force's deputy commander Iraj Masjedi said on Monday, after Iranian security sources told Reuters he had been out of contact since strikes on Beirut last week.

"He is in good health and is carrying out his activities. Some ask us to issue a statement... there is no need for this", Masjedi was quoted as saying by state media in reference to Qaani.

One of the officials speaking to Reuters said Qaani was in Beirut's southern suburbs, known as the Dahiyeh, during a strike last week that was reported to have targeted senior Hezbollah official Hashem Safieddine. The official said he was not meeting Safieddine.

Israel has been hitting multiple targets in Dahiyeh as it pursues a campaign against Iran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah.

Tehran named Qaani the head of the Revolutionary Guards Corps' overseas military-intelligence service after the United States assassinated his powerful predecessor Qassem Soleimani in a drone strike in Baghdad in 2020.

The Quds Force heavily influences its allied armed groups across the Middle East.