Wagner warlord Prigozhin cheated death once before in eerily similar plane crash

The passengers list of the Embraer 600 private jet that  crashed down north of Moscow on Wednesday evening included the name of Wagner Group founder Yevgeny Prigozhin, Russia ‘s aviation agency Rosaviatsia said. However, some Russian channels on Telegram have speculated that Mr Prigozhin may have managed to cheat death by not boarding the plane, with registration number RA-02795, that exploded in a ball of fire in the Tver region. Indeed, a second Embraer 600 plane with registration number RA-02748 was spotted circling towards Moscow after the other jet had crashed down. The flight records of this aircraft are partially inaccessible through FlightRadar24, a popular website used to track aeroplanes. The second aircraft eventually landed at the Russian capital’s Vnukovo airport. Yevgeny Prigozhin is the founder of the Wagner Group (Image: GETTY) Daniel Hawkins, a journalist in Moscow, shared with Al Jazeera reports Mr Prigozhin’s press secretary was “refusing” to confirm if the Wagner leader was on board the destroyed jet. Igor Sushko, a Twitter user and keen commentator of the conflict in Ukraine , argued Mr Prigozhin may have faked his own death . But he also said a different scenario may have seen the Wagner leader not being on the RA-02795 aircraft despite appearing on the list as a security measure. He claimed on Twitter: “Another plausible scenario currently: Putin tried to kill Prigozhin by blowing up the plane, but Prigozhin was not on the plane, as his security services constantly execute deception around his travel. There was a second plane. Prigozhin’s spokesman isn’t confirming his death.” Another Twitter account, RawAlerts, wrote claims suggesting Mr Prigozhin’s wife had “reported that he wasn’t on the plane and is okay. However, this information has not yet been verified.” Smoke and flames rising from the crash site (Image: GETTY) This would not be the first time Mr Prigozhin is reported dead in a plane crash only to turn up alive a few days later. In October 2019, an An-27 military aircraft crashed in the Democratic Republic of Congo with eight people on board. At the time, Russian media reported the Wagner leader had been among the victims – but a few days later Russian state news agency RIA Novosti cited a person close to Mr Prigozhin saying he had been in Russia when the plane crashed. The source also claimed the warlord was “very surprised, to be considered dead”. A few hours after the first reports of the crash on Wednesday, Rosaviatsia shared a list of the 10 people registered to be on the RA-02795 flight. A map showing where the plane crashed (Image: EXPRESS) Among them the agency named again Mr Prigozhin as well as Dmitry Utkin, a former GRU agent who allegedly co-founded Wagner . The agency also named three crewmembers – the commander, co-pilot and flight attendant. Rosaviatsia also said in a statement: “An investigation has been launched into the Embraer plane crash that occurred tonight in the Tver region.” Moscow officials said on Wednesday all those aboard the first private jet have lost their lives. A Telegram channel linked to Wagner, Grey Zone, said Mr Prigozhin had died, although it has yet to be officially stated. The channel wrote: “The head of the Wagner Group, Hero of Russia , a true patriot of his Motherland – Yegeny Viktorovich Prigozhin died as a result of the actions of traitors to Russia . But even in Hell he will be the best! Glory to Russia .” Indirectly dismissing speculation Mr Prigozhin may have survived, Russian journalist Andrey Zakharov also believes it likely the Wagner leader was on the aircraft that crashed, as he wrote: “As for Prigozhin, I can say for now: today he really flew to Russia from Africa, with him was the entire command staff of the Wagner PMC. It will be a miracle if he is on another plane, they tell me.”