Data shows second plane flew towards Moscowpublished at 20:05 British Summer Time 23 August 2023

20:05 BST 23 August 2023

Some Russian Telegram channels have speculated that Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin might have been on a different plane to the one that crashed today.

The other jet, another Embraer 600, has a registration number RA-02748.

The plane's flight records are partially inaccessible through FlightRadar24, a popular aircraft tracking website.

But data shows it departed from St Petersburg earlier today and flew towards Moscow. The trail disappears near Ostafyevo airport in the Russian capital.

The BBC has been unable to confirm if he was on board.

A bit more now from the US, where the national security spokesperson Adrienne Watson said the possible death of Prigozhin would not be a surprise given his history with Putin.

"We have seen the reports" of the crash and if confirmed, "no-one should be surprised," she said.

Dr Yuri Felshtinsky, a former advisor to the Ukrainian Foreign Office, says that if Yevgeney Prigozhin is dead, it is likely the Kremlin will try and blame Ukraine for killing him.

But he thinks few people would believe this story, as Russia’s leader Vladimir Putin has more of a motive.

Felshtinsky told the BBC he believes few people would mourn Prigozhin’s death but also "wouldn’t be surprised" if the Wagner leader had somehow managed to escape death.

We've now had a brief comment from the White House, which says President Joe Biden has been briefed on the reported plane crash in Russia.

Footage authenticated by BBC Verify shows the moment a plane bursts into flames after falling from the sky in Kuzhenkino, Russia.

Here are a couple of still images from that video, showing the plane's descent:

Image source, Still from amateur video

Image source, Still from amateur video

Many experts have been speculating how long Prigozhin could survive following his Wagner group’s failed rebellion in June, according to deputy director of the Russia and Eurasia Programme at Chatham House, Orysia Lutsevych.

"It’s clear he has been a traitor," she told the BBC.

"It seems like he has paid a price for it."

Lutsevych said Prigozhin and those supporting him, including people within the security services and military intelligence, wanted a "different type of trajectory" for the Ukraine war from Russian President Vladimir Putin and his allies.

"It is clear Putin is not secure in his position, because Russia is taking heavy losses," she said, adding that Prigozhin could have challenged him.

Joshua Cheetham
BBC Verify

Speculation on Telegram channels suggested the crashed plane was an Embraer Legacy jet with the serial number RA-02795.

Tracking data on FlightRadar24 - a popular flight tracking website - does not show where it departed from.

Earlier today it appeared to travel close to Moscow. After it climbed to nearly 29,000ft (8,800m), no further data was recorded.

The plane is registered to Autolex Transport, which the US government has linked to Yevgeny Prigozhin.

The plane’s flight records are now partially inaccessible through FlightRadar24.

But it has made several journeys to and from Moscow and St Petersburg in recent months, and has been pictured by local media in Belarus, where the Wagner group is now thought to be based.

Vitaliy Shevchenko
BBC Monitoring

None of the social media accounts believed to be linked to Prigozhin have so far made any claims as to whether he is dead or alive.

Some are saying that another business jet owned by him was also in the air at the time of the crash, also having departed Moscow.

Wagner-linked channel Reverse Side of the Medal is saying that this second jet has turned around and is flying back to Moscow.

A further report now suggests that eight bodies have been found at the crash site, that's according to the Russian state news agency RIA Novosti, citing emergency services.

Image source, Reuters, courtesy of Ostorozhno Novosti

We've just received this image, via the Reuters news agency, which appears to show plane wreckage on fire at a location given as Tver region, western Russia.

The BBC has not as yet been able to verify this material.

We don't yet have many details about the crashed plane.

State-owned Russian news agency Tass says that emergency response services have told it four bodies have been found.

It says the plane reportedly caught fire after hitting the ground and burned up, after being in flight for less than 30 minutes.

The BBC has not as yet been able to verify these reports.

Prigozhin had been labelled a dead man walkingpublished at 18:48 British Summer Time 23 August 2023

18:48 BST 23 August 2023

Frank Gardner
BBC News, Security Correspondent

"A dead man walking" is how several Russia watchers have been describing the mercenary Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin ever since he led his mutinous march on Moscow in late June.

President Putin’s initial reaction to that challenge to Russia’s defence establishment was vitriolic, calling it a betrayal and a stab in the back in a video message on 24 June.

The fact that a deal was then hastily cobbled together that saw Prigozhin remain at large and subsequently pop up in Belarus, St Petersburg and this week, somewhere in Africa, did not mean he was safe.

"Revenge" commented the CIA Director William Burns, "is a dish Putin prefers served cold" or words to that effect.

None of this, of course, is proof that Prigozhin and his entourage were deliberately targeted.

But given the circumstances any claims that his demise, if confirmed, was an accident will see a lot of eyebrows raised.

Image source, TELEGRAM/GREY ZONE

Yesterday we were reporting that Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin had appeared in his first video address since his failed mutiny in Russia.

The video, which suggested he was in Africa, was posted on Telegram channels linked to the Wagner mercenary group.

It showed Prigozhin in combat gear, saying the group is making Africa "more free".

The BBC has not been able to verify where the video was filmed.

Wagner is believed to have thousands of fighters on the continent, where it has lucrative business interests.

Read more on this story.

Wagner is a Russian mercenary army that was founded in 2014, according to its leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin.

The group was highly active in the Ukraine war until a failed mutiny in June.

Wagner fighters are now reported to be based at military camps in of Belarus.

Meanwhile, the group is also active in Africa and the Middle East.

You can read more about Wagner here.

Ten people have died after a private jet crashed north of Moscow, Russia's state-owned Tass news agency has been reporting.

Wagner mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin was listed as a passenger but we cannot yet confirm at the moment if he was on board the plane.

Earlier, a Wagner-linked Telegram channel Grey Zone reported that the jet was shot down by air defences in Tver region, north of Moscow.

In June Prigozhin led a short-lived mutiny against Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, which lasted only 24 hours.

All 10 people on board the private jet belonging to Wagner founder Yevgeny Prigozhin died when it crashed near the city of Tver, the Russian news agency Intefax reports, quoting the Emergencies Ministry.

The ministry said the 10 people - seven passengers and three crew members - were on board the plane when it came down, and that all of them are thought to be dead, according to Interfax.

The ministry added that the plane came down near the settlement of Kuzhenkino, Tver Region.

Image source, Reuters

Yevgeny Prigozhin is the head of the Wagner mercenary group, which he established in 2014.

A wealthy businessman with a criminal record, he was known as "Putin’s chef" because he provided catering for the Kremlin.

In June he led his troops on a short-lived mutiny, after they seized control of the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don and moved towards Moscow, with the stated aim of removing the military leadership.

However, Prigozhin stopped the advance after negotiations with the Kremlin, which were mediated by Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko.

Under a deal to end the mutiny, charges against Mr Prigozhin were dropped and he was offered a move to Belarus.

He has kept a low profile since then, although a video released a few days ago suggested he was in an African country.

Read more: Yevgeny Prigozhin - from Putin's chef to rebel in chief

Nathan Williams
Live reporter

The leader of the Wagner mercenary group Yevgeny Prigozhin was on the list of passengers on an aircraft that has crashed, the Russian Federal Agency for Air Transport (Rosaviatsiya) has said.

Ten people, including three crew members, were on board and all were killed, the agency says.

Prigozhin’s group has fought alongside Russia in Ukraine, until he headed a short-lived mutiny against Moscow in June.

Stay with us for live updates.