Terrible moment: Wagner boss Prigozhin’s private plane crashes and explodes in an exploding ball of flames after ‘falling out of the sky’ – Putin’s rival feared dead
This is the horrifying moment when a plane believed to be carrying Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin crashed in a field in rural Russia and burst into flames.
Shocking footage shows the business jet, believed to be carrying seven passengers and three pilots, plummeting through the sky trailing a plume of black smoke.
The plane then crashed into a field in the Bologovsky district of the Tver region, 60 miles north of Moscow, and exploded in a ball of flames.
Unconfirmed video captured from distant fields shows a plume of black smoke filling the air, while closer footage shows the wreckage of a plane that appears engulfed in intense fire.
Puffs of black smoke are seen rising into the sky and the wreck is completely ablaze.
A plane believed to be carrying Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin fell from the sky today and crashed into a field in Russia’s Tver region
Unconfirmed videos show what appears to be an airplane on fire, with plumes of smoke rising into the air
Terrifying photos show the aftermath of the plane crash in the village of Kuzhenkino, Tver region
The number 795, which corresponds to the plane of the former military leader, can just be seen at the edge of the scrap heap.
The plane’s cockpit is captured sticking out of the fire as shocked locals walk around the wreckage.
Russian state media reports that Prigozhin’s death has been confirmed, although Web cannot independently verify this.
Russian authorities had previously announced that ten people had died in the crash of a business jet.
As the news broke, a cheerful-looking Vladimir Putin was enjoying an evening at a concert celebrating the Soviet victory in World War II at the Battle of Kursk.
Meanwhile, Washington confirmed that President Biden would be briefed on the situation.
Prigozhin’s death came just two months after he tried – and failed – to stage a military coup in Moscow.
This led to a humiliating descent for the 62-year-old Wagner leader, who has become increasingly cautious since his attempt to overthrow Putin in June.
The Wagner paramilitary unit was at the center of some of the fiercest fighting during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, suffering such heavy casualties that Prigozhin toured Russia’s most dangerous prisons and recruited thousands of convicted murderers, rapists and other violent criminals.
It has been claimed that video showed the plane flying in the Tver region before it crashed to the ground (right).
Footage from social media is said to show the debris strewn in a field after the crash
It was later reported that the plane, on whose flight list Prigozhin was listed as a passenger, caught fire as pictures on social media claimed to show the wreckage
They were offered a salary and a full pardon if they survived six months on the front lines in Ukraine.
However, Prigozhin’s influence over the 25,000-strong group was feared across the country, and as relations between him and the Kremlin collapsed, his criticism of the president became more vocal.
Eventually he marched towards Moscow with thousands of soldiers, but the coup was called off after negotiations between the two parties mediated by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.
Prigozhin was reported to have been granted an amnesty in Belarus, but military experts around the world said his life was in grave danger following his attack on Putin.