Russian President Vladimir Putin confirms the death of Wagner PMC owner Yevgeny Prigozhin.

The Russian news agency TASS reported on this.

The Russian President expressed his condolences to the families of those killed in the plane crash in the Tver region.

He noted that the contribution of the Wagner PMC in the war with Ukraine “will not be forgotten.”

Putin also added that Prigozhin was talented and capable of achieving the desired results.

Putin confirmed that Prigozhin had returned from Africa and added some comments concerning Prigozhin’s activities on the continent.

“He was doing business in oil, gas, precious metals and stones. As far as I know, he just returned from Africa yesterday. He met with some officials here. But what is absolutely certain is that the head of the Investigative Committee reported to me this morning. They have already started a preliminary investigation into this incident,” Putin commented.

As Militarnyi previously reported, on August 23, an Embraer Legacy jet (registered RA-02795) crashed in the Tver region of Russia.

According to the Russian Federal Agency for Air Transport, Dmitry Utkin, head of the Wagner PMC, was listed as a passenger on a plane.

Some Russian media also suggested that the plane of the head of the so-called Wagner PMC was shot down by Russian air defense.

“Before the plane fell, local residents heard two bursts of specific anti-aircraft fire, and that can be confirmed by one of the videos featuring the inversion traces in the sky, as well as the words of direct eyewitnesses,” Russian sources say.

In July 2023, the Russian Ministry of Defense disarmed units from the so-called Wagner PMC.

After that, the rest of the mercenaries left for Belarus.