Yevgeny Prigozhin, the tycoon who built a private paramilitary force that fought on Russia’s behalf in Ukraine and Africa and later staged a short-lived mutiny, was widely believed to be dead on Thursday, a day after a plane in which he was said to be traveling crashed in Russia. He was 62.
Although his death has not been officially declared by the Russian authorities or confirmed by family members or business associates, President Vladimir Putin spoke of Prigozhin in the past tense on Thursday and offered condolences to the families of the crash’s 10 victims.