The Latest Breaking News from Wagner Group

Former convict, catering impresario and ally of Vladimir Putin became increasingly vocal critic of Kremlin’s defence chiefs during war in Ukraine

Yevgeny Prigozhin, the leader of the Wagner Group, is presumed dead. Russia’s Air Transport Agency has said he was on the passenger manifest of 10 people on board a private jet that came down in a fiery crash close to Moscow, killing everyone on board, while a Telegram channel associated…

On Aug. 23, Russian media reported that Yevgeny Prigozhin, the leader of the Wagner Group, was listed among the passengers of a plane that crashed, leaving no survivors. Speculation has already begun about Putin’s potential involvement in the crash. This speculation is likely to continue unabated well into the future.

Yevgeny Prigozhin, 62, leader of the Wagner Group who challenged Russian President Putin’s authority in June, is presumed dead

Former convict, catering impresario and ally of Vladimir Putin became increasingly vocal critic of Kremlin’s defence chiefs during war in Ukraine

Options for the mercenary group – in the wake of Yevgeny Prigozhin’s reported death in a plane crash – include complete dissolution, nationalisation into the conventional Russian army or finding a new leader. Russian President Vladimir Putin is set to hold the key to the future

Vladimir Putin has leant on military contractors to claim victories in Ukraine but his former friend’s attempted mutiny and threats against Russia’s defence establishment have exposed cracks in the president’s authority

Wagner Group chief’s exit appears to change little in the war in Ukraine

Two months after challenging Vladimir Putin’s leadership in an apparent but abortive “mutiny”, Yevgeny Prigozhin – the former owner of the mercenary private military company Wagner Group – has joined a long list of prominent Russians to die in mysterious circumstances.

Former convict, catering impresario and ally of Vladimir Putin became increasingly vocal critic of Kremlin’s defence chiefs during war in Ukraine

Yevgeny Prigozhin’s Wagner Group fielded some of Russia’s best fighting forces in Ukraine, but a rebellion against the military this year led to his exile in Belarus.