Mystery over SECOND Prigozhin jet spotted after plane blown up sparking rumours Wagner boss may have 'faked death' | The Sun
RUMOURS Yevgeny Prigozhin may still be alive have erupted after a second jet linked to the Wagner boss was spotted rushing to Moscow.
The rebel warlord, 62, was presumed dead after his private plane was blown out the sky two months after he staged a failed coup that enraged Vladimir Putin.
Both Wagner and Moscow sources claim Prigozhin is dead – but there has been no official confirmation amid the cloak and dagger of Russia.
Ten people died in the fiery crash on Wednesday – and all bodies have been taken to a morgue for forensic examination.
Speculation is rife that Putin's former chef Prigozhin was killed in the smash, and Russian authorities said his name was on the passenger list.
But there are now rumours he may have dodged the tyrant's wrath after a second jet linked to Prigozhin was seen flying to the capital.
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The aircraft was seen on a flight radar going from St Petersburg to Moscow half an hour before the stricken plane crashed just 31 miles from Putin's lavish palace at Valdai, northern Russia.
Footage showed the second jet – an Embraer ERJ-135BJ Legacy 650 aircraft with the registration RA-02748 – landing at Ostafyevo airport.
Prigozhin previously faked his own death and was declared dead in Africa in 2019 before re-emerging three days later.
Keir Giles, a Russia expert with the international affairs think tank Chatham House, warned Prigozhin may still be alive.
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He said: "Multiple individuals have changed their name to Yevgeniy Prigozhin, as part of his efforts to obfuscate his travels.
"Let's not be surprised if he pops up shortly in a new video from Africa."
Footage showed the first aircraf spiralling towards the ground from 28,000ft, with smoke pouring from the fuselage while en route to St Petersburg from Moscow.
Seconds later snaps of the aftermath showed the mangled wreckage of the white Embraer Legacy 600 business jet in a fiery heap.
In a clip of the plane plummeting to the ground, a witness could be heard saying: "A plane fell out of the sky. The pilot ejected, something is swirling in the air, do you see some part of it?
"It was flying fine, and exploded. Something is swirling in the air. The explosion was so strong and then it plunged and look, it’s burning."
Residents in the area claimed they'd heard "two large explosions" before the jet plummeted from the sky in Tver region.
In footage of the crash, another jet flying nearby appeared to be taking evasive action as if dodging a ground-to-air missile and turned back as Prigozhin’s jet fell.
Initial reports suggested the crash was caused after the plane was hit by such a missile.
But rumours on Russian social media claim explosives had been loaded into the private jet hidden inside an "expensive wine" crate.
Meanwhile, UK security sources told the Daily Telegraph the aircraft had been downed by Russia’s domestic intelligence agency the FSB on Putin's orders.
According to reports, Prigozhin's phone has been found among the wreckage.
Putin's former lapdog staged an armed insurrection on June 23 in a bid to topple Russia's military leaders as he turned on the top brass in Moscow.
However, the steaming rebellion was blown out after Prigozhin struck a bitter deal with Putin putting an end to an astonishing 36-hours that saw Wagner forces reach within 125 miles of the capital.
Progozhin had been thought to be living on borrowed time for weeks after denting Putin's authority and was reported to have stayed in a hotel with no windows in neighbouring Belarus.
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