Watch: Putin breaks silence after reports rival Prigozhin dead in plane crash

Watch as Vladmir Putin sent condolences to the family of Wagner Chief Yevgeny Prigozhin after a plane crashed thought to be carrying the mercenary leader.

Wagner used to fight alongside Russia in Ukraine, but challenged Putin’s authority in an uprising in June.

Prigozhin was listed as a passenger on a jet that spiralled out of the sky in near Tver, about 96km north of Moscow.

The president said Prigozhin “made serious mistakes in his life” but that he was “a talented businessman.”

British security forces believe Russia’s FSB intelligence agency shot down the jet on the orders of Putin, The Telegraph reports.