The Kremlin says suggestions that it gave an order to kill Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin are a “complete lie”
President Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov says there’s “lots of speculation” amid the “tragic death” of those on the private jet that crashed near Moscow
But he stopped short of confirming whether Prigozhin was on board, reiterating that an investigation was ongoing
Earlier, the UK defence ministry said Prigozhin is “highly likely” to be dead – but there was “not yet definitive proof”
The leader of Belarus – a close ally of Putin – has also commented on the incident, saying he “can’t imagine” the Russian leader was behind the plane crash
One US official has anonymously told the BBC’s US partner CBS that an explosion on the aircraft was the probable cause
