Who was Wagner co-founder Dmitry Utkin onboard crashed plane with Prigozhin?

Russia's Wagner group commander Dmitry Utkin was on the plane with its founder Yevgeny Prigozhin that crashed north of Moscow, the Russian civil aviation authority said. According to Russia's Ministry for Emergency Services, all 10 people who were onboard the crashed plane, including crew members have died as per preliminary information.

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Reportedly, the crashed plane was traveling between Moscow and Saint Petersburg.

Here is all about Wagner group commander Dmitry Utkin:

1. Born in 1970, Dmitry Utkin was a former officer in Russia’s GRU military intelligence service where he held the rank of lieutenant colonel. He has served in the Chechen and Syrian wars.
2. Utkin was also among the Wagner members who took part in Russian operations in eastern Ukraine in 2014 and had received awards for his service from the Kremlin.
3. Reportedly, the Wagner group gained its name from Utkin - his military callsign of ‘Wagner’.
4. Known as Prigozhin's right-hand man, Utkin was believed to be involved in Wagner operations in Ukraine in 2014 in Crimea and Donbas.
5. Utkin has been accused of human rights abuses and has faced sanctions by the UK and New Zealand over the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, reported BBC. In view of this, the Council of the European Union imposed restrictive measures against him and others associated with the Wagner Group in 2021.
6. Utkin was last seen in a video posted by Prigozhin in July this year in which the Wagner chief was addressing fighters in Belarus. In the reported video, Prigozhin introduced a man he says is Utkin. “This is not the end, this is only the beginning of the greatest work in the world, which will continue very soon…And welcome to hell," Utkin was heard saying in the video, as quoted by the Guardian.

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