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Wagner Group mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin has been confirmed dead after genetic analysis of the bodies from last week’s plane crash, Russian officials said Sunday.
After “molecular genetic examinations,” were completed, “the identities of all 10 dead were established” and “they correspond to the list stated in the flight sheet,” of the aircraft that went down Wednesday north of Moscow, the Russian investigative committee said in a statement on Telegram.
Prigozhin and some of his most trusted lieutenants, including Dmitry Utkin — a shadowy figure with neo-Nazi tattoos known as the mercenary chief’s right-hand man — and logistics chief Valery Chekalov, were listed on the plane’s manifest, along with four other passengers and three crew members.
The private jet, which was destined for St. Petersburg, crashed 60 miles north of Moscow two months to the day after Prigozhin’s failed coup attempt against President Vladimir Putin.
The Kremlin has denied it was behind the incident, rejecting widespread speculation that the crash was a revenge assassination for Prigozhin’s short-lived mutiny in late June, when Wagner fighters captured the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don, before marching on Moscow.
They would eventually stop 120 miles south of the Russian capital after a deal brokered by Belarusian President in which Prigozhin and his fighters would leave Russia for its neighboring ally.
Prigozhin’s whereabouts has been clouded in mystery since then although he appeared in a video in which he hinted that he was in Africa, conducting reconnaissance and “making Russia even greater on every continent.”
This is a breaking news story. Please check back for updates.
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