Russia has announced that 10 bodies and the plane’s black boxes have been found at the site of the plane crash in which Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin is believed to have died, the BBC reported.
“Molecular genetic testing is currently underway,” the investigators said.
The plane crashed near Moscow on Wednesday, prompting speculation that a bomb or missile was the cause.
Claims that the Kremlin ordered Prigogine’s assassination are “a complete lie”, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman told the BBC earlier.
Prigozhin, once loyal to Putin, led a failed riot by his mercenaries in June.
The Russian president described the rebellion as “treason,” but a deal was later struck for Wagner’s mercenaries to join Russia’s regular army or go to Moscow’s ally Belarus.
However, after the rebellion, many observers described Prigogine, 62, as “the walking dead”, claiming the Russian president would never forgive the Wagner boss.
During Friday’s press conference, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the BBC there was “a lot of speculation” surrounding the “tragic” deaths of all 10 people in Wednesday’s plane crash in the Tver region, northwest of the Russian capital.
According to the passenger list, Prigozhin and his right-hand man Dmitry Utkin, as well as five other passengers and three crew members, were on board the Embraer Legacy 600.
“In the West, of course, these speculations come from certain circles, but this is a complete lie”Peskov also said.
“We don’t have many facts at this time, the facts should be clarified during the official investigation that is currently underway.”he added.
