Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman, hit out at speculation Moscow was involved in the reported death of the leader of the Wagner Group.
Mr Peskov said allegations the Kremlin gave the order to kill Yevgeny Prigozhin are “a complete lie”.
During a press call, the spokesman described as “tragic” the reported death of the 10 people aboard a private jet that crashed down in the Tver region on Wednesday evening.
He noted there was “lots of speculation” about the incident, which is being investigated by the Russian civil aviation agency.
Mr Peskov then added: “In the West of course this speculation comes from a certain angle. It’s all a complete lie. Of course when we talk about this issue we should be guided only by facts.
“We don’t have many facts at the moment, the facts need to be clarified during the official investigation which is being carried out now.”
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