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The Russian Investigative Committee has formally identified the oligarch Yevgeny Prigozhin as one of the victims in a private jet crash north-west of Moscow on 23 August. The jet was chartered by the Wagner Group, the mercenary company headed by Prigozhin.
Among the nine other passengers – all dead – were Prigozhin’s right-hand man and militia commander Dmitry Utkin, as well as other senior Wagner leaders.
While the causes of the crash are still unknown, several western sources point to a possible attack planned by the Kremlin. Formerly a close associate of Vladimir Putin, Prigozhin fell from grace after his mutiny last June. When he appeared to receive conditional amnesty, many observers still agreed that his days were numbered. Meanwhile, the Russian government’s takeover of the Wagner group’s activities in Africa and Syria has accelerated in recent days.
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