Russian investigators announced Friday that they had found the bodies of all ten dead, as well as the black box of the plane that crashed Wednesday in the Tver region north of Moscow, carrying Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of Wagner’s mercenary group. , reports AFP.

“The bodies of ten dead people were found at the place of the plane crash. Molecular genetic analysis is being conducted to establish their identity. The flight recorders have been seized by investigators, a detailed inspection of the scene is being conducted,” the Investigative Committee of Russia said in Telegram.

Yevgeny Prigozhin is believed to have died after a plane carrying him from Moscow to St Petersburg crashed on Wednesday evening, carrying his right-hand man Dmytro Utkin and other Wagner group officials.

Putin confirmed Prigozhin’s death

Russian President Vladimir Putin offered condolences to Yevgeny Prigozhin’s family on Thursday, appearing to confirm the death of Wagner’s boss.

• “In regard to the plane crash, first of all, I want to express my sincere condolences to the families of all the victims. It’s always a tragedy,” Putin said in a televised speech during a meeting in the Kremlin with the Moscow-appointed head of Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine.

According to him, Prigozhin returned to Russia from Africa on Wednesday and met with “some officials”, without specifying with whom.

Will the Kremlin break its silence on the cause of the plane crash?

As with previous deaths of rivals to Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Kremlin is likely to sow confusion about who killed Prigozhin. Russian state media have already begun to publish contradictory assumptions, from blaming Ukraine to the idea that Prigozhin’s rival planted a bomb on his plane.

The Kremlin can only benefit from the uncertainty because Prigozhin was a figure who, although popular in Russia and considered a protégé of Putin, created discord. Although the Kremlin has eliminated rivals before, Prigozhin will become the first high-ranking loyalist suspected of killing Putin for alleged wrongdoing, The Wall Street Journal reports, News.ro reports.

His death is problematic because he was a hero to millions of disgruntled veterans and ordinary Russians, the American financial publication adds. He was admired not only for his military experience, but also for his bold criticism of alleged laziness and corruption in the army.

Read also:

• Preliminary US assessments of the Prigozhin plane crash: is there a missile or a bomb on board the plane?
• Satellite images show that the fuselage was almost intact when Prigozhin’s plane crashed / The bomb on board and the suspect?