Horrifying moment Wagner chief Prigozhin’s private plane CRASHES and bursts into exploding ball of flames after ‘falling from the sky’ – with Putin rival feared dead

• Follow MailOnline’s live blog amid reports that Yevgeny Prigozhin is dead

This is the horrifying moment a plane believed to be carrying Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin crashed and burst into flames in a field in rural Russia. 

Shocking footage shows the business jet, thought to be carrying seven passengers and three pilots, falling through the sky, with a trail of black smoke following behind it.

The plane then crashes into a field in the Bologovsky district in the Tver region, 60 miles north of Moscow, bursting into a ball of flames.

Unconfirmed videos taken from a far away fields show a plume of black smoke filling the air, while closer footage shows the wreck of what appears to a plane engulfed in an intense blaze.

Plumes of black smoke can be seen bellowing into the sky, with the wreck completely engulfed in flames. 

A plane believed to be carrying Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin fell from the sky today, crashing into a field in the Tver region of Russia

Unconfirmed videos show what appears to be an aircraft on fire with plumes of smoke billowing into the air 

Horrifying photos show the aftermath of the plane crash in the village of Kuzhenkino, in the Tver region

The numbers 795 can just about be made out on the edge of the scrap pile, which matches the plane linked to the ex-military leader. 

The cockpit of the plane is captured poking out from the fire while shocked locals walked around the debris.

Russian state media reports that Prigozhin is confirmed to have died, although MailOnline is unable to independently verify this.

Russian authorities had previously said ten people had been killed in a business jet crash.   

As the news broke around the world, a gleeful looking Vladimir Putin enjoyed a night out at a concert celebrating the Soviets World War Two victory at the Battle of Kursk.

Meanwhile, Washington confirmed that President Biden was being briefed on the situation. 

Prigozhin’s reported death comes just two months after he tried – and failed – to stage a military coup in Moscow.

It led to a humiliating climbdown from the Wagner leader, 62, who has been increasingly careful since his attempt to overthrow Putin in June. 

The Wagner paramilitary unit had been at the heart of some of the fiercest battles in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, suffering such heavy losses that Prigozhin toured Russia’s most dangerous prisons and recruited thousands of convicted murderers, rapists and other violent offenders.

It was claimed a video showed the plane flying in the Tver region before crashing towards the ground (right)

Footage from social media purports to show the debris strewn across a field after the crash

The plane, which had Prigozhin named as a passenger on its flight list, was later reported to be engulfed in fire, as images on social media claimed to show the wreckage

They were offered a salary and a full pardon if they survived six months on the front line in Ukraine.

However Prigozhin’s sway over the 25,000-strong group was feared across the country, and as the relationship between he and the Kremlin broke down, he became increasingly outspoken in criticising the president. 

He eventually marched on Moscow with thousands of troops, but the coup was called off after negotiations between the two parties, brokered by Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko.

It was reported that Prigozhin had been granted amnesty in Belarus, but military experts across the world said his life was in great danger after his attack on Putin.

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