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Ten bodies have been recovered from the site of a Russian plane crash, state media has said, with a number of high-profile members of the Wagner mercenary group reportedly on board.

Seven passengers and three crew were on board the Embraer aircraft, and all were killed, Russian authorities said – although Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin’s death has yet to be officially confirmed.

The plane was heading from Moscow to St Petersburg before it came down came down near the village of Kuzhenkino Tver.

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What caused Prigozhin jet to come down?

Sky News looks at who was on the plane’s manifest, released by Russia’s civilian aviation regulator:

Yevgeny Prigozhin

Prigozhin

Born in 1961 in the city of Leningrad – now St Petersburg, Prigozhin had a difficult start in life, losing his father at a young age.

He turned to crime in his teenage years, initially theft, but quickly escalating into more serious crimes. He was jailed for 12 years, aged 20, in 1981 after being convicted of robbery and fraud.

Prigozhin was pardoned in 1988 and released in 1990 when he began selling hot dogs at a flea market in Leningrad with his mother and stepfather.

Prigozhin later founded, or became involved in, many new businesses, and in the 2000s, he grew closer to Putin.

He even earned himself the nickname “Putin’s chef” on account of his Kremlin-linked catering business. His companies won lucrative government contracts, including providing school lunches, and in Moscow alone, his company Concord won millions of dollars in deals.

Read more:
From hot dog seller to ‘Putin’s butcher’
Putin raised up Prigozhin up and now seems to have destroyed him
Timeline of Wagner Group leader’s movements after failed mutiny

Prigozhin’s Wagner Group was heavily involved in the capture of Bakhmut, one of the bloodiest battles in the Ukraine war. According to US figures, around 20,000 Russian troops were killed in the fighting, with around half thought to be from the Wagner Group.

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Dmitry Utkin

Dmitry Utkin. Pic: Grey Zone/Telegram
Image:
Pic: Grey Zone/Telegram

Utkin – a former Russian soldier reportedly adorned with Nazi tattoos – has been described as Prigozhin’s right-hand man and allegedly played a key role in the founding of the Wagner Group.

He is said to have a fascination with the third Reich, naming the group after Adolph Hitler’s favourite composer.

Previously, Utkin was a lieutenant colonel in the GRU military intelligence service and was deployed twice to Chechnya.

The 53-year-old has also been accused of involvement in numerous war crimes, including in Homs, Syria, where he reportedly gave the order to beat a deserter to death and demanded the act be filmed.

Sergei Propustin

Little is known about the 44 year old, except he was a Wagner fighter.

Sergei Propustin
Image:
Sergei Propustin

Yevgeny Makaryan

Makaryan was a fighter in the Wagner Group and was presumed to be Prigozhin’s bodyguard. He was included on the controversial Ukrainian Myrotvorets (“Peacemaker”) website, which keeps a list of alleged “enemies of Ukraine”.

He was a junior lieutenant in the police and fought in Syria, surviving a clash with American planes while out there.

He remained a commander in the group, though little is known about his exact role.

Alexander Totmin

Alexander Totmin

The Wagner fighter is presumed to be one of Prigozhin’s bodyguards.

Valery Chekalov

Valery Chekalov

The 47 year old was originally from Vladivostok but had lived in St Petersburg since 2008.

Chekalov was reportedly Prigozhin’s deputy, responsible for all the logistics of the Wagner Group.

A longtime employee of Concord holding – another Prigozhin company – he was in charge of managing mercenaries, securing weapons, and running the oil, gas and mineral businesses in Syria and Africa, said Lou Osborn, author of a forthcoming book on the mercenaries and an investigator with All Eyes on Wagner, a project focusing on the group.

He was targeted by US sanctions last month for having “acted on behalf of Prigozhin” and facilitating shipments of munitions to Russia.

Nikolai Matuseyev

Matuseyev was a presumed Wagner Group fighter.

Kristina Raspopova

Kristina Raspopova

Raspopova was a flight attendant.

The 39-year-old air stewardess was the only woman to be killed.

She was reportedly the sister of Yevgeny Raspopov, a deputy prosecutor in the Chelyabinsk region.

One of the last images she shared on social media was her eating breakfast, waiting for the doomed flight, with her cabin bag next to her.

Alexei Levshin

The 51-year-old pilot is survived by his wife and two children.

Rustam Karimov

Rustam Karimov

Karimov was the co-pilot of the plane. According to Russian media reports he was 29 years old and from Perm.

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Defiance in Tehran as Khamenei makes appearance

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Defiance in Tehran as Khamenei makes appearance

They rose to their feet in ecstatic surprise, shouting “heydar, heydar” – a Shia victory chant.

This was the first public appearance of their supreme leader since Israel began attacking their country.

He emerged during evening prayers in his private compound. He said nothing but looked stern and resolute as he waved to the crowd.

He has spent the last weeks sequestered in a bunker, it is assumed, for his safety following numerous death threats from Israel and the US.

His re-emergence suggests a return to normality and a sense of defiance that we have witnessed here on the streets of Tehran too.

Earlier, we had filmed as men in black marched through the streets of the capital to the sound of mournful chants and the slow beat of drums, whipping their backs with metal flails.

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Defiance on streets of Tehran

This weekend they mark the Shia festival of Ashura as they have for 14 centuries. But this year has poignant significance for Iranians far more than most.

The devout remember the betrayal and death of Imam Hussein as if it happened yesterday. We filmed men and women weeping as they worshipped at the Imamzadeh Saleh Shrine in northern Tehran.

The armies of the Caliph Yazid killed the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad in the seventh-century Battle of Karbala.

Shiite Muslims mark the anniversary every year and reflect on the virtue it celebrates, of resistance against oppression and injustice.

But more so than ever in the wake of Israel and America’s attacks on their country.

The story is one of prevailing over adversity and deception. A sense of betrayal is keenly felt here among people and officials.

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Many Iranians believe they were lured into pursuing diplomacy as part of a ruse by the US.

Iran believed it was making diplomatic progress in talks with America it hoped could lead to a deal. Then Israel launched its attacks and, instead of condemning them, the US joined in.

Death to Israel chants resounded outside the mosque in skies which were filled for 12 days with the sounds of Israeli jets. There is a renewed sense of defiance here.

One man told us: “The lesson to be learned from Hussein is not to give in to oppression even if it is the most powerful force in the world.”

A woman was dismissive about the US president. “I don’t think about Trump, nobody likes him. He always wants to attack too many countries.”

Pictures on billboards nearby draw a line between Imam Hussein’s story and current events. The seventh-century imam on horseback alongside images of modern missiles and drones from the present day.

Other huge signs remember the dead. Iran says almost 1,000 people were killed in the strikes, many of them women and children.

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Officially Iran is projecting defiance but not closing the door to diplomacy.

Government spokeswoman Dr Fatemeh Mohajerani told Sky News that Israel should not even think about attacking again.

“We are very strong in defence and as state officials have announced, this time Israel will receive an even stronger response compared to previous times,” she said.

“We hope that Israel will not make such a mistake.”

But there is also a hint of conciliation: Senior Iranian officials have told Sky News that back-channel efforts are under way to explore new talks with the US.

Israel had hoped its attacks could topple the Iranian leadership. That proved unfounded, the government is in control here.

For many Iranians, it seems quite the opposite happened – the 12-day war has brought them closer together.

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‘Nobody likes Trump’: Sky News finds defiance on the streets of Tehran

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'Nobody likes Trump': Sky News finds defiance on the streets of Tehran

To the sound of mournful chants and the slow beat of drums, they march, whipping their backs with metal flails.

It is an ancient ceremony going back almost 14 centuries – the Shia commemoration of Ashura.

But this year in particular has poignant significance for Iranians.

The devout remember the betrayal and death of the Imam Hussein as if it happened yesterday.

The Shia commemoration of Ashura in Tehran, 2025
Image:
Iranians gather ahead of Ashura

The Shia commemoration of Ashura in Tehran, 2025

We filmed men and women weep as they worshipped at the Imamzadeh Saleh Shrine in northern Tehran.

The grandson of the Prophet Muhammad was killed by the armies of the Caliph Yazid in the seventh century Battle of Karbala.

More on Iran

Shia Muslims mark the anniversary every year and reflect on the virtue it celebrates – of resistance against oppression and injustice. But more so than ever this year, in the wake of Israel and America’s attacks on their country.

The story is one of prevailing over adversity and deception. A sense of betrayal is keenly felt here by people and officials.

The Shia commemoration of Ashura in Tehran, 2025
Image:
Men and women weeped as they worshipped at the Imamzadeh Saleh Shrine

Many Iranians believe they were lured into pursuing diplomacy as part of a ruse by the US.

Iran believed it was making diplomatic progress in talks with America, which it hoped could lead to a deal. Then Israel launched its attacks and, instead of condemning them, the US joined in.

“Death to Israel” chants resounded outside the mosque in skies that for 12 days were filled with the sounds of Israeli jets.

There is a renewed sense of defiance here.

One man told us: “The lesson to be learned from Hussein is not to give in to oppression, even if it is the most powerful force in the world.”

I don't think about Trump. Nobody likes him," one woman tells Sky News
Image:
‘I don’t think about Trump. Nobody likes him,’ one woman tells Sky News

A woman was dismissive about the US president.

“I don’t think about Trump. Nobody likes him. He always wants to attack too many countries.”

Pictures on billboards nearby link Imam Hussein’s story and current events. They show the seventh century imam on horseback alongside images of modern missiles and drones from the present day.

The Shia commemoration of Ashura
The billboard illustrates the 7th century imam on horseback alongside missiles and drones from the present day

Other huge signs remember the dead. Iran says almost 1,000 people were killed in the strikes, many of them women and children.

Officially Iran is projecting defiance, but not closing the door to diplomacy.

Government spokeswoman Dr Fatemeh Mohajerani told Sky News that Israel should not even think about attacking again.

“We are very strong in defence, and as state officials have announced, this time Israel will receive an even stronger response compared to previous times. We hope that Israel will not make such a mistake.”

Government spokeswoman Dr Fatemeh Mohajerani told Sky News that Israel should not even think about attacking again
Image:
Dr Fatemeh Mohajerani said it would be a mistake for Israel to attack again

But there is also a hint of conciliation. Senior Iranian officials have told Sky News back-channel efforts are under way to explore new talks with the US.

Israel had hoped its attacks could topple the Iranian leadership. Those hopes proved unfounded. The government is in control here.

For many Iranians it seems quite the opposite happened – the 12-day war has brought them closer together.

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Two security workers injured after grenades thrown at aid site, Gaza Humanitarian Foundation says

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Two security workers injured after grenades thrown at aid site, Gaza Humanitarian Foundation says

Two American security workers in Gaza were injured after grenades were thrown during food distribution in Khan Younis, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) has said.

In a statement, the US and Israeli-backed aid group said a targeted terrorist attack was carried out at one of its sites in southern Gaza on Saturday morning.

The two Americans injured “are receiving medical treatment and are in stable condition,” it said, adding that the delivery of aid was “otherwise successful” and that “no local aid workers or civilians were harmed”.

GHF didn’t say exactly when the incident happened but claimed Hamas was behind the attack, adding: “GHF has repeatedly warned of credible threats from Hamas, including explicit plans to target American personnel, Palestinian aid workers, and the civilians who rely on our sites for food.

“Today’s attack tragically affirms those warnings.”

Later, the aid group posted a picture on social media, which it said showed “fragments of a grenade packed with ball bearings” that was used in the attack.

Asked by Sky’s US partner network, NBC News, whether the two injured individuals were responsible for handing out aid or were responsible for providing security, GHF said they were “American security workers” and “two American veterans.”

More on Gaza

The aid group did not provide specific evidence that Hamas was behind the attack.

The US and Israeli-backed group has been primarily responsible for aid distribution since Israel lifted its 11-week blockade of the Gaza Strip in May.

Read more:
Hamas gives ‘positive’ response to ceasefire proposal
Outcry as Israeli strike hits school
94 killed in Israeli strikes in Gaza, health staff say

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It comes after Sky News analysis showed GHF aid distributions are associated with a significant increase in deaths in Gaza.

According to Gaza’s health ministry, 600 Palestinians have been killed while seeking aid from GHF sites as of 3 July, which charities and the UN have branded “death traps”.

Meanwhile, the Associated Press has reported that Israeli-backed American contractors guarding GHF aid centres in Gaza are using live ammunition and stun grenades.

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Contractors allege colleagues ‘fired on Palestinians’

GHF has vehemently denied the accusations, adding that it investigated AP’s allegations and found them to be “categorically false”.

Israel’s military added that it fires only warning shots and is investigating reports of civilian harm.

It denies deliberately shooting at any innocent civilians and says it’s examining how to reduce “friction with the population” in the areas surrounding the distribution centres.

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