, in what security sources believe was an assassination ordered by Vladimir Putin. Prigozhin, who led a failed mutiny against the Russian military in June, was among 10 people – crew members and passengers – who died when the aircraft came down in the Tver region north of Moscow, the country's federal air transport agency said. Allies of Prigozhin claimed the Embraer jet was shot down by Russian air defences. Dmitry Utkin, the Wagner co-founder, was also reported to be among the dead. UK security sources told The Telegraph that the aircraft had almost certainly been shot down by the FSB, Russia's domestic intelligence agency, acting on orders from Putin. 'Of course it's Putin,' said one source. Joe Biden, the US president, said: 'I'm not surprised. There's not much that happens in Russia that Putin's not behind.' In June, 62-year-old Prigozhin directly challenged Putin's authority when he led an advance on Moscow, declaring: 'We are patriots of the motherland… and no one is going to surrender to the demands of the president, the FSB or anyone else.' He was accused of treason by Putin, but the mutiny was called off after Alexander Lukashenko, the Belarusian president, brokered a deal that gave Prigozhin sanctuary in his country. The crash happened just one day after multiple Russian sources confirmed that General Sergei Surovikin, who reportedly fell out of grace with the Kremlin over his ties to Wagner, had been dismissed as head of the Russian Air Force. Western allies are placing the blane on the crash at the hands of Vladimir Putin. Gen Surovikin, also known as 'General Armageddon' for his role in flattening the Syrian city of Aleppo, has not been seen in public since June . The crash and the dismissal come as Ukraine's Western-backed counteroffensive has largely stalled against stubborn Russian defences. As the first reports of th){kind=link}
Security forces claim jet carrying Wagner Group leader was shot down by air defences
Yevgeny Prigozhin, the leader of the Wagner mercenary group, was killed in a plane crash, Russia said on Wednesday night, in what security sources believe was an assassination ordered by Vladimir Putin.
Prigozhin, who led a failed mutiny against the Russian military in June, was among 10 people – crew members and passengers – who died when the aircraft came down in the Tver region north of Moscow, the country’s federal air transport agency said.
Allies of Prigozhin claimed the Embraer jet was shot down by Russian air defences. Dmitry Utkin, the Wagner co-founder, was also reported to be among the dead.
UK security sources told The Telegraph that the aircraft had almost certainly been shot down by the FSB, Russia’s domestic intelligence agency, acting on orders from Putin. “Of course it’s Putin,” said one source.