A personal jet with 10 folks on board has crashed in Russia - with the person who led a short-lived mutiny in opposition to the nation's high brass on the passenger record.
There has been uncertainty about whether or not Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin boarded the flight, with experiences suggesting that eight our bodies have been discovered on the crash website.
Footage from the scene - about 60 miles north of Moscow - exhibits flames leaping from the wreckage. Here's what we all know to this point.
Wagner boss 'passenger on crashed airplane' - newest updates
What has occurred?
The non-public Embraer Legacy plane was travelling from Moscow to St Petersburg when it crashed.
Russian authorities stated there have been no survivors.
TASS information company reported seven passengers and three crew had been on board the Embraer plane and had been all killed.
Russia's civil aviation authority stated Prigozhin was on the passenger record, and later added that he was travelling with Wagner commander Dmitry Utkin.
According to Reuters, there are experiences they had been attending a gathering with officers from Russia's defence ministry.
A Telegram channel affiliated with the Wagner Group has stated Prigozhin was killed within the airplane crash. It known as him a hero and a patriot who had died by the hands of unidentified folks described as "traitors to Russia".
The airplane got here down close to the village of Kuzhenkino Tver - and unconfirmed experiences counsel it belonged to Prigozhin.
Who was on board?
A listing of these on board has been printed by Russia's Federal Air Transport Agency.
Prigozhin's safety chief Valeriy Chekalov was additionally stated to be on the flight - with the opposite 4 passengers named as Sergey Propustin, Yevgeny Makaryan, Alexander Totmin and Nikolay Matuseev.
Utkin was Prigozhin's right-hand man - a shadowy determine coated in Nazi tattoos together with a swastika and lightning bolts.
Sky's Moscow correspondent Diana Magnay says that, if the deaths are confirmed: "That is essentially the top echelons of the Wagner Group taken out in one fell swoop - and it is exactly two months to the day that Prigozhin launched his very short-lived mutiny."
The crew members on the doomed flight have been named as commander Aleksei Levshin, co-pilot Rustam Karimov and flight attendant Kristina Raspopova.
What might have induced the crash?
Our navy analyst Sean Bell stated airplane crashes are historically in unhealthy climate - and circumstances had been clear on the time.
Referring to footage of the incident, he added: "This aircraft looks as if it's completely out of control - it's spiralling down, there are vapour trails coming from it - all of which indicates it's had some sort of catastrophic failure in the air."
Magnay says there have been experiences of a second airplane behind the one which crashed that was zig-zagging by way of the sky.
Security and defence analyst Professor Michael Clarke says the best way the airplane got here down would not point out there was a bomb on board - however it did seem like an plane that had been hit by one thing outdoors that did sufficient harm to wreck the controls.
Flightradar24 says knowledge from the plane exhibits it descended sharply about 33 minutes into the flight.
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Who is Yevgeny Prigozhin?
Once a detailed confidant of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Prigozhin based Wagner - a non-public navy firm whose fighters had been on the bottom in Ukraine.
But in latest months, Prigozhin had been a vocal critic of Russia's defence ministry, in addition to high generals, of their dealing with of the invasion.
He led a short-lived mutiny in opposition to the nation's high navy brass in June - and on the time, he was described by Mr Putin as a "traitor".
The riot ended when Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko stepped in to dealer a deal, with Prigozhin agreeing to relocate to Belarus.
What has occurred for the reason that riot?
Earlier this week, Prigozhin made a video handle for the primary time for the reason that aborted mutiny.
Wearing camouflage and holding a rifle, he seemed to be in Africa - and talked about Russia making the continent "free".
Prigozhin spoke of how Wagner was tackling terrorist teams within the area, and "making life a nightmare for ISIS and al Qaeda and other bandits".
His mercenary group has been accused by the UN and different companies of widespread human rights abuses.
Where is Vladimir Putin?
Amid experiences that Prigozhin is useless, Mr Putin was attending a live performance in Kursk.
The occasion is devoted to the eightieth anniversary of Soviet troops' victory within the Battle of Kursk.
Soldiers joined the president on stage, with Mr Putin pinning medals on troops.
The Russian president has additionally been collaborating within the BRICS summit - showing nearly alongside leaders from Brazil, India, China and South Africa.
What has been the response to the airplane crash?
Boris Bondarev, a former Russian diplomat, advised Sky News that the loss of life of Prigozhin would profit Mr Putin.
And Christopher Steele, a former British intelligence officer, stated he believed such an incident involving the mercenary chief was "inevitable" following his failed revolt.
Mr Steele claims a contract had been put out on Prigozhin by members of Russia's enterprise neighborhood in latest weeks.
Sean Bell has stated the crash could possibly be a ploy to let the Wagner boss stay peacefully in exile.
"This might have been an engineered story for Prigozhin to slip quietly away and live in exile somewhere, under a wig and with a degree of privacy," he added.
US President Joe Biden, who's on vacation in California, has been briefed.
Adrienne Watson, America's nationwide safety spokesperson, stated: "We have seen the reports. If confirmed, no one should be surprised."
And Alicia Kearns, who chairs the UK's Foreign Affairs Committee, advised Sky News that the velocity at which the Russian authorities confirmed Prigozhin was on the passenger record "should tell us everything we need to know".
Reports have steered that the airplane was shot down by Russian air defence forces, and the British MP says this means Mr Putin is "sending a very loud message".
A UK authorities spokesperson stated the Foreign Office is "monitoring the situation closely".
What does this imply for the struggle in Ukraine?
Prof Clarke says that - if Prigozhin is useless - it can have a "marginal" impact on the battle, however it can present that Russia is a "gangster state".
He defined: "It is run in a gangster way from the top, right through the very bottom with corruption down at the lowest possible level."
The safety and defence analyst expects extra particulars to emerge within the coming hours - and stated warning is required.
"It is not obvious he is dead at the moment, he probably is, but there is still some plausible idea this might be some sort of setup," he added.
The crash has been reported on Russian state tv.
Content Source: information.sky.com
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