Accident or assassination? It's the question that has yet to be answered after a private jet crashed over Russia on Wednesday, August 23. Because it was not just any plane. Several members belonging to the Russian mercenary group Wagner are thought to have been on board, including its military leader and founder, Yevgeny Prigozhin. The crash left ten dead, Russia's Federal Air Transport Agency having shared a full list of passengers registered on the plane.
We have cross-checked the names on the passenger list with those found on internal Wagner Group documents, leaked in March 2023 and accessed by Le Monde. The information, together with that gathered by independent investigators, provides a profile of the crash victims. They show that the plane was presumably carrying some of the paramilitary group's most powerful leaders.
Translation of an original article published in French on lemonde.fr; the publisher may only be liable for the French version.