North of Moscow: 10 people killed in plane crash, Yevgeny Prigozhin among them

(Patria) - Ten people were killed in the crash of a private plane north of Moscow.

The Russian Civil Aviation Authority announced that former leader of the Wagner mercenary group Yevgeny Prigozhin was on the passenger list, Sky News reports.

There were seven passengers and three crew members on board the Embraer plane, which was flying from Moscow to St. Petersburg, the Tass news agency reported.

The agency learned from emergency services that the bodies of four people had been found. They also added that the plane had burned on the ground and had been flying for less than half an hour.

The Federal Air Transport Agency has launched an investigation into the accident.

Yevgeny Prigozhin was the founder of the Wagner group. Wagner mercenaries were key in the capture of the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut in the spring.

The fighting for Bakhmut lasted more than half a year. While the battle for Bakhmut was ongoing, Prigozhin increasingly criticized the Russian military leadership day by day.

Things culminated on June 24 when an open rebellion by Wagner members occurred. Prigozhin's fighters seized Rostov-on-Don and several other places in the south of the country and headed towards Moscow.

In the afternoon, negotiations were held, and Wagner abandoned entering the Russian capital.

As announced in the following days, it was decided that Wagner members who did not join the Russian army would be amnestied and transferred to Belarus.

In recent days, it was said that the head of Wagner was in Africa.