Wagner Group commander Dmitry Utkin was on plane that crashed north of Moscow, Russian civil aviation authority says | World News

Wagner Group commander Dmitry Utkin was on the airplane with Yevgeny Prigozhin that crashed north of Moscow, the Russian civil aviation authority has mentioned.

There have been no survivors after the jet crashed close to the village of Kuzhenkino Tver area, north of Moscow, based on Russian authorities.

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Civil aviation authority Rosaviatsia printed the names of seven passengers, together with Wagner boss Prigozhin and Utkin, together with three crew members it mentioned had been on board.

Eight our bodies have been recovered from the wreckage to date, authorities mentioned.

Utkin – a former Russian soldier reportedly adorned with Nazi tattoos – has been described as Prigozhin’s right-hand man and allegedly performed a key function within the founding of the Wagner Group.

Beforehand, Utkin was a lieutenant colonel within the GRU army intelligence service and was deployed twice to Chechnya.

The 53-year-old has additionally been accused of involvement in quite a few struggle crimes, together with in Homs, Syria, the place he reportedly gave the order to beat a deserter to dying and demanded the act be filmed.

Video footage seems to point out the second of the airplane crash.

Learn extra:
Who’s Yevgeny Prigozhin?
Why Putin’s distrust of generals is making his forces weaker

Within the clip, the plane is seen plummeting to the bottom, adopted by a path of smoke – earlier than it smashes right into a area.

The airplane was heading from Moscow to St Petersburg.

Prigozhin led a short-lived mutiny towards Russia’s prime army brass in June, and was described on the time by Vladimir Putin as a “traitor”.

The Russian mercenaries surged many of the option to Moscow earlier than Prigozhin referred to as off the advance and ordered them to show again to “keep away from bloodshed”.

The rise up ended when Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko stepped in to dealer a deal – which noticed Prigozhin agreeing to relocate to neighbouring Belarus.

The Kremlin mentioned his fighters would both retire, observe him there, or be a part of the Russian army.

Within the aftermath, Andrei Gurulev, a retired basic and politician, mentioned Prigozhin and Utkin deserved “a bullet within the head” for his or her function within the tried rise up.

“I firmly consider that traitors in wartime should be executed,” he added.