All 10 bodies found in the crash of a private jet, allegedly carrying Wagner Group founder Yevgeny Prigozhin, have been taken for examination, Russian media reported on Aug. 24.
According to the Russian outlet Fontanka, the bodies were driven to a morgue of a forensic medical examination bureau in the city of Tver.
The Moscow Times reported that Prigozhin's phone was found at the crash site, although his body has not yet been identified.
The private Embraer Legacy aircraft crashed near the village of Kuzhenkino in Tver Oblast while flying from Moscow to St. Petersburg on the evening of Aug. 23. The founder of the Wagner Group, who had launched a short-lived rebellion against the Kremlin in late June, is presumed dead in the crash.
According to the Institute for the Study of War, Putin "almost certainly ordered the Russian military command to shoot down Prigozhin's plane." The warlord's death is yet to be confirmed by official sources, however.
While the cause of the crash is currently unknown, flight-tracking data indicates that in the last minutes of its flight, the plane made erratic climbs and descents, before dramatically dropping almost 2,500 meters per minute, after which the transmission of altitude data stopped.
The Russian Investigative Committee has initiated a "criminal case" following the plane crash due to the alleged violation of traffic safety rules and air transport operations.
Videos of the crash appear to indicate that the plane is registered to Prigozhin, as the plane's registration number matched his.
Martin Fornusek
(Updated: )
