U.S. intelligence services believe that the plane that crashed in Russia on Wednesday, carrying presumably the head of the Wagner Group, Evgueni Prigojine, was shot down by a surface-to-air missile fired from Russian territory, several U.S. government officials told Reuters.
The leader of the paramilitary group Wagner, Evgueni Prigojine, who led a rebellion against the Russian General Staff in June, died in the crash of a private plane on Wednesday north of Moscow. As indicated by former French naval aviator Xavier Tytelman to Le Point magazine, several indicators suggested a surface-to-air missile strike, including the gray cloud emanating from the aircraft, the loss of the right wing of the plane, and the presence of “small holes in the wreckage of the fuselage.” Additionally, witnesses of the plane crash reported two strong explosions.
The Russian official news agency also stated that an investigation had been launched for “violation of flight rules,” implying that the plane was in breach. Several sources mention a military zone in the area overflown.
