United States Department of Defense Press Secretary Air Force Brigadier General Patrick Ryder (pictured) said on Thursday that the Pentagon's initial assessment indicated that Wagner Group founder Yevgeny Prigozhin was "likely" killed in a plane crash yesterday.
Speaking at a press conference, Ryder labeled media reports that claimed Prigozhin's jet had been shot down by a surface-to-air missile as "inaccurate."
Earlier in the day, Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke of Prigozhin in the past tense, presumably suggesting that he also believes the Russian businessman is dead.