Russia confirms Wagner Group head Prigozhin among deaths in Wednesday’s plane crash

By Emre Gurkan Abay

MOSCOW (AA) - Russia on Sunday confirmed that Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the mercenary Wagner Group, was among the 10 deaths in a plane crash last week.

In a statement, Russia’s Investigative Committee said that it completed genetic identification of those who died in the private jet that crashed in the northwestern Tver region.

The identities of all 10 people who died were identified, the statement said, adding that the results were the same as a list published on Wednesday, the night of the crash.

In the crash, an Embraer-135 aircraft went down while traveling from the capital Moscow to St. Petersburg, killing all 10 passengers on board, including Prigozhin.

The agency later released a list of the names of individuals onboard the aircraft, which also included Wagner co-founder Dmitry Utkin and other Wagner personnel.

On Thursday President Vladimir Putin extended his condolences to the families of the victims, calling Prigozhin a "talented man" with a "difficult fate."

Prigozhin made headlines in June when he launched an “armed rebellion” against the Russian leadership before quickly aborting the effort.