Wagner mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin was formally confirmed dead yesterday following genetic analysis, investigators said, as anger and questions over what caused his plane to crash earlier in the week continued to mount.
Speculation that the Kremlin may have been involved in the crash has been rife, with the incident coming exactly two months after Wagner staged a mutiny against Moscow’s military leadership.
A spokeswoman from Russia’s Investigative Committee Svetlana Petrenko said Molecular-genetic examinations have been completed as part of the investigation into the plane crash in the Tver region, and according to their results, the identities of all 10 victims were established, and correspond to the list stated in the flight list.
Among the nine other people listed onboard the Embraer private jet that crashed on Wednesday was Dmitry Utkin, a shadowy figure who managed Wagner’s operations and allegedly served in Russian military intelligence.