Wagner chief killed in plane crash near Moscow

Photo released by Investigative Committee of Russia on Aug. 23, 2023 shows the crash site of a private plane in Tver Region near Moscow, Russia. Russia's Federal Agency for Air Transport confirmed on Wednesday that Wagner Group private military company's leader Yevgeny Prigozhin was killed in a plane crash in the Tver Region near Moscow. (Investigative Committee of Russia/Handout via Xinhua)

MOSCOW/WASHINGTON, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- Russia's Federal Agency for Air Transport conformed on Wednesday that Wagner Group private military company's leader Yevgeny Prigozhin was killed in a plane crash in the Tver Region near Moscow.

According to the name list released by the agency on its Telegram account, Prigozhin was among the ten people who lost their lives in the crash earlier Wednesday.

The agency said earlier that an investigation had been launched into the cause of the plane crash in the Tver Region, noting that Yevgeny Prigozhin was among the passengers.

A private Embraer plane en route from Moscow to St. Petersburg crashed in the Tver Region on Wednesday, Russia's Ministry of Emergency Situations said, noting all the ten people on board were killed in the accident.

U.S. President Joe Biden has been briefed on reports that a plane reportedly carrying Prigozhin crashed in Russia, according to the White House press pool.

"I don't know for a fact what happened but I'm not surprised," Biden said when asked about the crash. The president, staying in the state of Nevada for the day with no public events scheduled, said he was doing physical exercises when being told about the news.

"We have seen the reports. If confirmed, no one should be surprised," U.S. National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said via her account on social media site X, formerly known as Twitter.

Rescue personnel work at the crash site of a private plane en route from Moscow to St. Petersburg in Tver Region near Moscow, Russia, on Aug. 23, 2023. Russia's Federal Agency for Air Transport confirmed on Wednesday that Wagner Group private military company's leader Yevgeny Prigozhin was killed in a plane crash in the Tver Region near Moscow. (Stringer/TASS via Xinhua)