By Adesina Soyooye
Not a few people describe this tragedy as convenient, but Russia’s Yevgeny Prigozhin is reported to have been killed in a Plane crash on Wednesday.
The Aircraft, an Embraer Business Jet, crashed in the Tver region, Northwest of Moscow.
The plane took off from Sheremetyevo International Airport in Moscow and was headed to St. Petersburg.
Russia’s Federal Agency for Air Transport said in a statement: “An investigation of tye Embraer plane crash that happened in the Tver Region this evening was initiated. According to the passenger list, first and last name of Yevgeny Prigozhin was included in the list.”
Prigozhin, leader of a mercenary group, the Wagner Group, was very close to Russian President, Vladimir Putin, before they fell apart.
In June, he led his Group on a mutiny which demystified Putin and the Russian Military when they invaded the Kremlin. Even though the mutiny was short-lived before they pulled back, it affected the moral of the Russian Military and embarrassed Putin.
On Wednesday, he was listed as one the 10 passengers on board a plane which crashed and killed all the people on board.
Recently, the Wagner boss had become popular in Nigeria and the West African Region, following allegations that he was backing the Military of Niger Republic which overthrew the democratically elected Government in that country.
He had, allegedly, threatened that his Group would fight on the side of the Niger Republic if the country is marched on by the Military of the Economic of West African States, ECOWAS.
Unconfirmed video on WhatsApp showed soldiers, allegedly of the Wagner Group, arriving Niamey, capital of Niger Republic.
Russian State News Agency, TASS, cited the Ministry of Emergency in its confirmation of the Plane crash, but could not confirm if the Wagner boss was on board or not.
He was aged 62 years.
