Washington, 23 August 2023 (dpa/MIA) — US President Joe Biden said he was not surprised by the crash involving a private jet carrying Wagner mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, who had revolted against Russian President Vladimir Putin in June.

"I don’t know for a fact what happened but I’m not surprised," he told reporters in California, where he is vacationing.

Asked if Putin was behind it, Biden said: "There’s not much that happens in Russia that Putin's not behind. But I don't know enough to know the answer. I've been working out for the last hour and a half."

Grey Zone, a Telegram channel linked to Prigozhin's Wagner Group, says the mercenary leader is dead after a jet in which he was listed as a passenger went down near Moscow.