explored for the first time. on bbc london. the football on newsnight at 10:30pm. does a fatal plane crash north of moscow mean that to vladimir putin has killed the wagner leader, yevgeny prigozhin, once his closest acolyte, in revenge for his insurrection government department sent him letters he could not read. good evening and welcome to the bbc news at ten. first tonight the news that has been developing from russia all evening, the plane crash that appears to have killed a man whose mercenary fighters have attacked ukraine and who just two months ago led a mutiny against vladimir putin. in the last hour, it s been confirmed that yevgeny prigozhin head of the wagner group was on board a private jet that crashed near moscow. this is still very much an evolving situation, one that the uk government says it is monitoring. in the us president biden has said there s not much that happens in russia that putin s not behind. our first report is from our russia editor steve rosen
hello and welcome to the programme. the man who led a mutiny against president putin and played a key role with his wagner mercenaries in the war in ukraine yevgeny prigozhin appears to be dead, in a plane crash in russia. this image has been confirmed by bbc verify as being from the crash scene near moscow. it s been confirmed that yevgeny prigozhin was on board the private jet. there s much we still don t know about this story. the uk government says it is monitoring the situation. in the us, president biden has said, there s not much that happens in russia that putin s not behind . our russia editor steve rosenberg has this report. caught on camera, the final seconds of a private jet. on board, reportedly, the head of a private mercenary group, yevgeny prigozhin. look over there by the farm, it is burning, the eyewitness can be heard saying. in the distance, a giant cloud of smoke. the plane had crashed north of moscow. yevgeny prigozhin s right hand man, the wagn
significant power in russia commanding thousands of troops who were financed and supported for a time by many at the top of the russian government. so how did that happen? our analysis editor ros atkins has been taking a look. well, we know that prigozhin took an unorthodox route to a powerful position in russia. in 1981, he was sent to prison for robbery and theft, and when released in 1990, he became a hotdog salesman in st petersburg. but by 1997, he was running a top restaurant and winning lucrative catering contracts. those brought connections to the top. prigozhin even served food to world leaders and to putin himself. and prigozhin s role was becoming about much more than food. in 2014, russia annexed crimea and launched an insurgency in eastern ukraine. prigozhin was involved. at that time he said. and soon the wagner group reached far beyond ukraine. the fbi accused prigozhin of interfering in the 2016 us election. in syria, wagner fighters supported pro govern
in the tver region. in st petersburg, a public memorial has been set up outside the wagner headquarters to pay tribute to mr prigozhin as well as his right hand man dimitry utkin. mr prigozhin rose from obscurity to a position of significant power in russia commanding thousands of troops financed and supported by some of the country s most powerful politicians. our analysis editor ros atkins has been taking a look at his rise and fall. well, we know that prigozhin took an unorthodox route to a powerful position in russia. in 1981, he was sent to prison for robbery and theft, and when released in 1990, he became a hotdog salesman in st petersburg. but by 1997, he was running a top restaurant and winning lucrative catering contracts. those brought connections to the top. prigozhin even served food to world leaders and to putin himself. and prigozhin s role was becoming about much more than food. in 2014, russia annexed crimea and launched an insurgency in eastern ukra
north west of moscow. pictures have emerged of the aftermath of the crash, which happened about halfway through the flight from moscow to st petersburg, while the plane was at its cruising altitude. trajectory data suggest the aircraft essentially dropped out of the sky. russia s aviation agency shared what it claimed was a list of the passengers on the doomed flight among them, mr prigozhin and key wagner commander dmitry utkin. as police cordoned off the crash site, russia s emergency ministry claimed that ten bodies had been recovered from the wreckage. the bbc has not been able to independently verify this information yet. but outside the wagner group headquarters in st petersburg, mourners have been laying flowers and lighting candles. if mr prigozhin is indeed dead, it would be an abrupt end, but it s not unexpected, as will vernon explains from moscow. i don t think this news has surprised anyone here today. around an hour after that plane crash, the russian federal