There was no immediate official confirmation that Prigozhin, Russia's most powerful mercenary and a self-declared enemy of the Russian Defence Ministry, was physically on board.
Reuters could not confirm that he was on the aircraft though a Telegram channel linked to Wagner pronounced him dead.
Wagner mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin leaves the headquarters of the Southern Military District amid the group's pullout from the city of Rostov-on-Don, Russia, June 24, 2023.
Unconfirmed Russian media reports said that Dmitry Utkin, Prigozhin's right-hand man, had also been on board and that Prigozhin and his associates had attended a meeting with officials from the Russian Defence Ministry.
An unverified video clip posted to social media showed a plane resembling a private jet falling out of the sky towards the earth.
Persons:
Wagner, Prigozhin, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Vladimir Putin's, Putin, Joe Biden, Alexander Ermochenko, Sergei Shoigu, Valery Gerasimov, Dmitry Utkin, Andrew Osborn, Max Rodionov, Mark Trevelyan, Grant McCool
Organizations:
Russian Defence Ministry, Reuters, Wagner Group, Kremlin, Defence Ministry, Embraer, TASS, Southern Military, REUTERS, Russia's, General Staff, Thomson
Locations:
Moscow, MOSCOW, Russia, Africa, Tver, St . Petersburg, Kuzhenkino, Tver Region, Rostov, Don, St Petersburg, Ukraine, Belarus