The name of the Wagner Group’s founder was on the list of passengers aboard the Embraer 600 that crashed north of Moscow on Wednesday evening.
However, a commentator noted Yevgeny Prigozhin may have managed to cheat death once again thanks to his use of body doubles.
Keir Giles, senior consulting fellow of the Russia and Eurasia Programme at Chatham House, noted that Mr Prigozhin, much like Russian President Vladimir Putin, was rumoured to use lookalikes.
And one of them, he suggested, may have boarded the plane that some reports claimed was shot down by Russia.
Mr Giles told the US Mirror: “There is one huge caveat to the early reporting. It’s been announced a passenger by the name of Yevgeny Prigozhin was on board.
“But it is also known multiple individuals have changed their name to Yevgeny Prigozhin, as part of his efforts to obfuscate his travels.
“So until we know for certain it’s the right Prigozhin, let’s not be surprised if he pops up shortly in a new video from Africa.”
Mr Giles isn’t the only expert to have mentioned Mr Prigozhin’s possible use of body double.
Nina Khrushcheva, a professor of International Affairs at The New School in New York City, told the BBC4’s Today programme while speaking about the “numerous” theories on the plane crash that have been circulating since Wednesday: “We know Prigozhin uses doubles, so it’s not clear whether it was Prigozhin or somebody registered as Prigozhin.
“Apparently there was his phone found next to the plane crash but if anybody knows how to evade Putin’s justice or Putin’s revenge, probably Prigozhin would know best because they go back years and years.”
The commentator also noted Mr Prigozhin had been reported dead following a plane crash in the Democratic Republic of Congo dating back to October 2019 – only to turn back alice a few days later.
The cause of the plane crash hasn’t been yet revealed, and Russia’s aviation authority, Rosaviatsia, said it has launched an investigation into the crash.
Some social media channels linked to Wagner, such as Telegram’s Grey Zone, claimed Mr Prigozhin’s death was not an accident but rather the “result of actions of traitors to Russia”.
Speculation the Kremlin may be behind the crash has been swirling around since it was first reported.
Many commentators believe Vladimir Putin may have wanted to send a clear signal to the Russian elite and those disloyal to him – as Mr Prigozhin had been in late June, when he launched a short-lived mutiny against the Russian military leadership.
