What to know about the plane crash
- In his first public acknowledgment of Yevgeny Prigozhin's presumed death, Russian President Vladimir Putin said the Wagner mercenary chief was a "talented businessman" who "made serious mistakes in his life."
- Prigozhin, who led an aborted mutiny in June, was listed as a passenger on a jet that crashed north of Moscow yesterday.
- Russian officials said all 10 people on the private aircraft were killed, and a Telegram channel associated with the Wagner Group said Prigozhin and his top lieutenant were among the dead.
- Videos and flight radar document the dramatic final moments of the flight, which showed no sign of any problem until a plunge to the ground that spread debris for miles.
Intelligence points to sabotage, U.S. officials say
Two U.S. officials told NBC News that intelligence gathered so far points to sabotage as the cause of the plane crash that reportedly killed Yevgeny Prigozhin and others near Moscow yesterday.
One of the officials said a leading theory is that the aircraft was downed by an explosive on board, but they do not have enough information to say that with certainty.
Department of Defense press secretary Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder said nothing thus far indicates a surface-to-air missile took down the plane and that such reports are inaccurate.
Pentagon: Prigozhin likely killed but no evidence of surface-to-air missile
Yevgeny Prigozhin was most likely killed but there is no evidence that the plane he was on was taken down by a missile, according to U.S. Defense officials.
“Our initial assessment based on a variety of factors is it was likely Prigohzin was killed,” Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder, the Pentagon's press secretary, said at a briefing.
He also said defense officials have no information to indicate that a surface-to-air missile took down the plane that Russian officials say was carrying senior Wagner members, and assessed press reports about that to be inaccurate.
Kremlin likely sought Wagner's destruction, U.S. think tank says
There is a strong likelihood that the Russian Ministry of Defense and the Kremlin were behind the plane crash that presumably killed Prigozhin, according to the Institute for the Study of War think tank.
“The Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) and the Kremlin have been destroying the Wagner private military company (PMC) and weakening Prigozhin’s authority since the rebellion — and the assassination of Wagner’s top leadership was likely the final step to eliminate Wagner as an independent organization,” the Washington-based organization said in a report.
Prigozhin “was likely attempting to counter the Russian MoD’s and the Kremlin’s destruction of Wagner,” it said, adding that Wagner’s future is now uncertain.
Crashed jet believed to have carried top Wagner officials apart from Prigozhin
The official manifest for the jet that crashed and is presumed to have killed Yevgeny Prigozhin included the names of a number of senior Wagner officials, according to a Russian opposition-linked research organization.
Among the names on the manifest is Valeriy Yevgenyevich Chekalov, who ran businesses linked to the mercenary organization, according to the Dossier Center, a London-based investigative group funded by former Russian oligarch-turned-opposition-figure Mikhail Khodorkovsky. Also listed is Evgeniy Makaryan, who joined Wagner in 2016, and Sergey Propustin, who fought in the second Chechen war and joined Wagner in 2015, the Dossier Center said.
Dmitry Utkin, reputed to have been Prigozyn’s operational leader, was also on the plane, according to the manifest.
Russian officials said all 10 people on the plane — seven passengers and three crew — died in the crash.
Plane 'fell to the ground like a Coke bottle,' aviation expert says
The plane presumed to be carrying Prigozhin “fell to the ground like a Coke bottle,” according to Jeff Guzzetti, an aviation expert and NBC News contributor.
Despite rampant speculation about what caused the crash, he said holes in the wreckage could have been caused by the structure pulling away from rivets or screws, among other things.
But Guzzetti said that “new jets like this don’t come apart like this unless something bad happened.”
He added the “more compelling evidence is the fact that the aircraft clearly came apart in flight following some sort of catastrophic event at altitude. It literally fell to the ground like a Coke bottle … totally out of control and missing wing parts.”
Witness says he heard a bang before plane fell
Residents of a village Kuzhenkino said they heard a bang before the plane presumed to be carrying Prigozhin fell to the ground.
“I heard an explosion or a bang,” Vitaly Stepenok, 72, told Reuters. “Usually, if an explosion happens on the ground then you get an echo, but it was just a bang and I looked up and saw white smoke.”
He added that a “wing flew off in one direction,” before the plane “glided down on one wing.”
Investigation into crash will take time, Putin says
Russian President Vladimir Putin said the official investigation into the crash that is believed to have killed Prigozhin will take time.
After expressing his "sincere condolences to the families of all the victims" during a meeting broadcast on Russian television, Putin said that the head of the investigative committee had reported to him this morning.
The probe "will be conducted in full and brought to a conclusion ... Let’s see what the investigators will have to say in the nearest time,” he added.
Satellite image shows crash site
Putin comments on Prigozhin's death for first time
Russian President Vladimir Putin has sent condolences to the relatives of Prigozhin, who has been listed among those killed in a plane crash yesterday.
It was Putin’s first public acknowledgment of the crash.
“I’ve known Prigozhin for a long time, since the early '90s. He was a man of complicated fate and he made serious mistakes in his life,” Putin said during a meeting broadcast on Russian television. “He was a talented man, a talented businessman.”
“He worked not only in our country ... but also abroad. In Africa in particular,” Putin added.