Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin’s jet was ‘taken down by bomb hidden in wine crate’, sources say

The Wagner boss and Putin enemy is rumoured to have been taken down by a bomb hidden on board his plane, sources say.

Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin’s jet is rumoured to have been taken down by a bomb hidden in a wine crate, sources say.

Theories are running rife around the fiery crash that today killed Putin’s enemy, which unfolded exactly two months after Wagner’s failed coup.

Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin’s plane has crashed – killing him and all on board. Picture: Getty Images

Russian Telegram channel VChK-OGPU says that an eyewitness reported two explosions, resembling missile firing, sounded in the sky before Prigozhin's plane went down.

"There were two shooting blasts. When I heard the first explosion, I just raised my head and I saw sparks… pic.twitter.com/xBeQZIhktW

— Anton Gerashchenko (@Gerashchenko_en) August 23, 2023

Officials have confirmed the 62-year-old was on the plane that mysteriously plummeted into the Russian ground this afternoon, saying he was among 10 on board who died, The Sun reports.

Clips showed the aircraft spiralling towards the ground from 28,000ft, with smoke pouring from the fuselage.

Just seconds later a black mushroom cloud of smoke poured into the sky, and flames could be seen leaping from the mangled wreck.

Horror footage showed the aftermath of the smash. Picture: Twitter/@Azovsouth

Clips showed the plane falling from the sky before turning into a fiery heap. Picture: AFP

As the white Embraer Legacy 600 business jet seemed to just drop from the sky, it was suggested it had been taken out by a ground-to-air missile.

However, sources say there could have been a bomb on board Prigozhin’s jet – which inevitably took it down.

One source said a consignment of “expensive wine” was loaded on-board the aircraft minutes before takeoff.

And one theory is that explosives were concealed in the wine packaging.

Earlier, sniffer dogs were used to check the aircraft – which was reduced to mere charred remains.

The plane was reduced to charred, mangled metal. Picture: AFP PHOTO / Russian Investigative Committee

Locals on the ground claimed they’d heard “two large explosions” before watching the plane fall from the sky.

The jet was said to have flown from Africa, to Moscow, before it crashed.

It went up in flames just 31 miles from Putin’s lavish palace at Valdai, northern Russia.

Wagner officials quickly threatened another coup after rumours of Prigozhin’s death started swirling.

A private plane crashed in Moscow's Tver region killing all ten people on board, including Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, Russian agencies said. (Picture: AFP / Telegram @razgruzka_vagnera

A translation read: “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 …”

Prigozhin had been thought to be living on borrowed time for weeks and was reported to have stayed in a hotel with no windows in neighbouring Belarus.

This article originally appeared on The Sun and was reproduced with permission.