Wagner chief Prigozhin killed in crash

Authorities in Russia have confirmed that Wagner Group chief Yevgeny Prigozhin died in a plane crash on Wednesday. Ten people were on the jet, which crashed in Russian territory.

Why would Prigozhin be in Russia? The plane was en route to St. Petersburg, but it’s unclear what the mercenary chief’s business there would have been. Earlier this week, the Wagner Group leader released a recruitment video for his organization hinting that he was in Africa. Prigozhin was a general-for-hire for Putin while supplying elite mercenaries for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. After a brief and largely peaceful uprising against the Kremlin earlier this year, Prigozhin cut a deal with Russian officials allowing him to travel to neighboring Belarus, a Russian-allied country.

Dig deeper: Read Evgeny Kosykh’s report in WORLD Magazine about the Russian Wagner Group.