Who else was on the Russian private jet that crashed with ‘Wagner chief Prigozhin on board’?
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
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
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
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
The Wagner fighter is presumed to be one of Prigozhin’s bodyguards.
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
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
Karimov was the co-pilot of the plane. According to Russian media reports he was 29 years old and from Perm.
At least 36 people have been killed after a fire engulfed several buildings at a high-rise residential complex in Hong Kong.
Hong Kong leader John Lee said another 279 people were reported missing. He said 29 people remained in hospital.
About 900 people have been evacuated to temporary shelters after the blaze – Hong Kong’s deadliest fire in years – broke out at the Wang Fuk Court housing complex in the city’s Tai Po district.
Three men have since been arrested on suspicion of manslaughter, broadcaster RTHK reported.
Pics: AP
Meanwhile, fire chiefs said the high temperatures were making it challenging for crews to mount rescue operations.
Mr Lee said the fire was “coming under control” shortly after midnight.
The blaze was upgraded to a level 5 alarm, the highest level of severity, as night fell.
Pics: AP
The dead included one firefighter, officials said earlier.
A number of other firefighters were said to have been hurt while trying to tackle the flames as they ripped through the 31-storey towers.
Pic: Reuters
Pic: AP
Records show the Wang Fuk Court site consists of eight blocks, with almost 2,000 apartments housing around 4,800 residents, including many elderly people. It was built in the 1980s and has recently been undergoing a major renovation.
Pic: Reuters
Pic: Reuters
The fire, which broke out at 2.51pm local time, had spread on bamboo scaffolding and construction netting set up around the exterior of the complex.
It was not known how the fire started, but officials said it began on the external scaffolding of one of the buildings before spreading inside and to nearby buildings, likely aided by windy conditions.
Pic: Reuters
Pic: Reuters
Flames and smoke were still pouring out of many windows as night fell.
Chinese President Xi Jinping expressed condolences to the firefighter who died, and extended his sympathies to the families of the victims, according to state broadcaster CCTV. He also urged an “all-out” effort to minimise casualties and losses.
The UK’s foreign secretary described the fire as “truly devastating and deeply depressing”. Yvette Cooper said: “The UK sends heartfelt condolences to all the families affected and to the people of Hong Kong.”
Tai Po is in the northern part of Hong Kong, and close to the border with the mainland Chinese city of Shenzhen.
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Bamboo scaffolding is a common sight in Hong Kong at building construction and renovation projects.
However, the government said earlier this year it would start phasing it out for public projects because of safety concerns.
The blaze is the deadliest fire in Hong Kong since the deaths of 41 people in a commercial building in Kowloon in November 1996.
That fire was later found to have been caused by welding during internal renovations, with a public inquiry yielding sweeping updates to building standards and fire safety regulations in the city’s high-rise offices, shops and homes.
Two military personnel who were shot near the White House in Washington DC have died.
A suspect has been taken into custody and the area secured, police said.
The White House was placed into lockdown, while US President Donald Trump is away in Florida.
Washington DC shooting latest updates
Pics: AP
Mr Trump initially posted on his Truth Social platform to say the two National Guardsmen had been “critically wounded”, adding that the “animal” that shot them “is also severely wounded, but regardless, will pay a very steep price”.
But West Virginia’s governor said both victims were members of his state’s National Guard and had died from their injuries.
Patrick Morrisey added: “These brave West Virginians lost their lives in the service of their country. … Our entire state grieves with their families, their loved ones, and the Guard community. West Virginia will never forget their service or their sacrifice, and we will demand full accountability for this horrific act.”
Pic: AP
Police tape cordoned off the scene, while agents from the US Secret Service and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were on the scene, as National Guard troops stood sentry nearby.
Emergency personnel cordon off an area near where National Guard soldiers were shot. Pics: AP
The Joint DC Task Force confirmed it was responding to an incident in the vicinity of the White House.
The DC Police Department posted on X: “Critical Incident: MPD is on the scene of a shooting at 17th and I Street, NW. Please avoid the area.”
In an update, the force said: “The scene is secured. One suspect is in custody.”
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said: “The White House is aware and actively monitoring this tragic situation.
“The president has been briefed.”
Mr Trump was at his resort in Palm Beach ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday, while US vice president JD Vance was in Kentucky.
Flights arriving at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport were temporarily halted due to its proximity to the scene of the shooting, the US Federal Aviation Administration said.
Hundreds of National Guard members have been patrolling the nation’s capital after Mr Trump issued an emergency order in August, which federalised the local police force and sent in the guard from eight states and the District of Columbia.
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