A Russian investigation has confirmed the leader of the Wagner mercenary group was killed in a plane crash north of Moscow on Wednesday. 

Following what it calls genetic examinations, Russia's investigative committee confirmed the death of 10 people in a plane crash, including Yevgeny Prigozhin. 

Former British Military Intelligence Officer Philip Ingram said we should normally take information from Russia with a grain of salt – but this investigation seems legitimate. 

“There's more than enough evidence now to suggest Prigozhin and his command group were on that aircraft and had died,” he said. 

“The interesting thing now will be to explain what brought that aircraft down."

A portrait of the owner of private military company Wagner Group Yevgeny Prigozhin lays at an informal street memorial near the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, 26/08/2023. Image: Alexander Zemlianichenko/Alamy

Expert Mark Gelotti also said he is “confident” the Russian State was involved in the death of Mr Prigozhin. 

“We can be confident this was a bomb and that the Russian State is behind it,” he said.  

“Not least because they’re not pointing fingers at anyone else, which would be their usual technique.” 

Mr Prigozhin previously led a coup in Moscow and Rostov-on-Don, vowing to defeat the “evil” leaders of the military who had "destroyed... tens of thousands of lives of Russian soldiers" in the war against Ukraine. 

Russian Expert Keir Giles said Mr Prigozhin’s reported death will strengthen President Putin’s position.  

“All of those questions about the weakness of Putin that came as a result of him not swiftly murdering Prigozhin have now been dispelled,” he said.  

“He should be on a much firmer footing now, because there isn’t that open question or whether you can actually challenge him.”  

Reporting by IRN.