Ten people including the founder of Russia's Wagner Group Yevgeny Prigozhin -- who challenged the rule of Vladimir Putin just months ago -- were reportedly killed in a plane crash Wednesday, outside of Moscow. The business jet was reportedly traveling from the Russian capital to St. Petersburg when it went down in the Tver region.
"Prigozhin was listed among the passengers, according to the Federal Air Transport Agency," read a post by TASS news agency on Telegram. "An investigation into the crash of the Embraer aircraft has been launched, the department noted."
One of Wagner's Telegram channels also confirmed Prigozhin's death, calling it "a big tragedy for the Fatherland."
"That our best warriors perished is God’s will. Everyone of us is ready for this. The one who orchestrated this thinks that he has won, but it is not so. If this is done by an external enemy - which is unlikely - it only precipitates and exacerbates his inevitable defeat. If this is a knife in the back . . . the Fatherland will survive this," it said.
"Bigger things have happened and will happen . . . but your fate, as the fate of any 'Judah' is not enviable and while the history is being written, the tale of this heinous betrayal will be the scarlet letter on your kin," the social media post continued. "Whatever the fate of the Wagner Group is, one cannot take away our victories. Yevgenij Viktorovich Prigozhin, the greatest commander in modern history, has given his life in the fight against the enemies of the Fatherland. And memory about our heroes is immortal."
President Vladimir Putin's press secretary Dmitry Peskov, told the news media that the Russian leader "has been informed of all the events around Prigozhin" and that "necessary measures are being taken." Putin has since sent condolences to the families of the deceased.
In a meeting at the Kremlin Thursday, the Russian president said that Prigozhin had returned to Russia from Africa on Wednesday and had met “some officials,” without specifying whom.
Putin said he had known Prigozhin since the early 1990s.
“He was a man with a difficult fate. He made some serious mistakes in his life,” Putin said. “He achieved the needed results both for himself and for a joint effort that I had asked him about during the last months.” The Russian leader appeared to be referring to the war in Ukraine and possibly the efforts of Wagner fighters in the city of Bakhmut.
“He was a talented businessman,” Putin said, promising a full investigation into the plane crash.
Remarking on the crash to reporters, US President Joe Biden said: "I don't know for a fact what happened, but I am not surprised...Not much happens in Russia that Putin's not behind. I don't know enough to know the answer."
The reported crash comes just days after Prigozhin posted a new video on Telegram proclaiming that the Wagner Group would make Russia "greater" and Africa "freer." The post was made Monday from, what he claimed, was somewhere in Africa.
Prigozhin in late June, initiated the most significant challenge to Putin’s 23-year hold on power. The mercenary leader marched his 25,000-strong forces to within 125 miles of Moscow; abruptly ended the operation and ordered his troops to return home before heading into exile in Belarus.
WATCH alleged video of the reported crash, and Putin's remarks