Latest news on Russia and the war in Ukraine
Source: CNBC | Original Published At: 2023-08-24 10:33:00 UTC
Key Points
- Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin presumed dead in plane crash with 9 others
- Embraer Legacy 600 crashed in Tver Region near Kuzhenkino
- U.S. President Biden suggests Putin's involvement in the incident
- Prigozhin's mutiny against Russian government occurred in June 2023
- Putin announces BRICS coalition expansion with six new members
A member of private mercenary group Wagner pays tribute to Yevgeny Prigozhin and Dmitry Utkin following their apparent deaths in a plane crash on Aug. 23, 2023.
Wagner mercenary boss Yevgeny Prigozhin, an ally-turned-traitor of Russian President Vladimir Putin, is presumed dead after a private jet carrying him and nine others crashed while traveling from Moscow to St. Petersburg on Wednesday evening.
Russia’s aviation authorities have launched an investigation into the crash of the Embraer Legacy 600, which fell precipitously from the sky and burst into flames in the Tver Region near the settlement of Kuzhenkino shortly after 6 p.m. local time. All passengers on board are believed to have died.
The Kremlin has yet to comment on the crash, which is believed to have also killed Wagner co-founder Dmitry Utkin. However, Wagner backers and Western allies were quick to draw a link to Moscow, with U.S. President Joe Biden saying he believed Putin was behind the incident.
Prigozhin led his paramilitary forces in a short-lived mutiny against the Russian government on June 23 following months spent vocally criticizing the country’s top brass.
The abortive insurrection had led to an apparent deal between Prigozhin and Putin, which was meant to see the Wagner leader and his forces relocate to Belarus, while Prigozhin himself pledged to leave Russia for good.
Meantime, Putin on Thursday hailed the expanded influence of the BRICS coalition following the invitation of six new members to join the emerging market bloc.