Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin's plane may have been sabotaged by a "bomb hidden in a wine crate" with the military group now threatening to take revenge.
The military boss, 62, is believed to have died after his private jet went plummeting to the ground in a ball of fire yesterday evening (Wednesday, August 23), killing all 10 people on board.
Footage of the crash shows the aircraft, a white Embraer Legacy 600 business jet, suddenly falling from a height of 28,000ft and sending smoke billowing into the sky above.
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Since then wild theories have begun to spread over how the suspicious crash may have come to be, with sources claiming explosives may have been stashed on board, reports The Sun.
One insider alleged a crate of "expensive wine" had been loaded onto the aircraft just moments before takeoff.
Some now reckon the deadly bomb may have been hidden in the wine packaging in a revenge attempt after the rebel leader led a failed military uprising made up of Wagner Group members to Moscow.
Now members of the group have issued a chilling warning to the Kremlin in the wake of their leader's death.
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"Many discussions of what Wagner will do in this situation," members said.
"We'll say one thing – we're starting off. Expect us."
It comes after the group hinted they may launch a new campaign against Russian leader Vladimir Putin.
Taking to Telegram in the the hours following the crash, Wagner officials wrote: "There are rumours about the death of the head of Wagner PMC Yevgeny Prigozhin.
"We directly say that we suspect the Kremlin officials led by Putin of an attempt to kill him.
"If the information about Prigozhin's death is confirmed, we will organise a second 'March of Justice' on Moscow! He'd better be alive, it's in your own interests…."
The fatal crash took place two months after the government-funded military organisation, made up mostly of former prison inmates, staged a failed coup against Russian leader Vladimir Putin.
On June 23, thousands of rebel troops marched towards Moscow following a period of tension.
Kremlin officials estimated the uprising involved 4,000 Wagner members, while rebel Prigozhin put the number at a much loftier 25,000.
However the coup was shut down after just 24 hours when an agreement was seemingly reached between the two sides.
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