Factbox-Who is Yevgeny Prigozhin, the Wagner chief listed as passenger on crashed plane?

FILE PHOTO: Wagner mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin leaves the headquarters of the Southern Military District amid the group's pullout from the city of Rostov-on-Don, Russia, June 24, 2023. REUTERS/Alexander Ermochenko/File Photo

(Reuters) -Here are some key facts about Yevgeny Prigozhin, founder of Russia's Wagner Group mercenary force, who Russia's civil aviation authority said was on the passenger list of a plane that crashed north of Moscow on Thursday.

- Prigozhin, 62, soared in prominence after Russia's February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, where his fighters - including thousands of convicts he recruited from prison - led the Russian assault on the city of Bakhmut in the longest and bloodiest battle of the war. Prigozhin used social media to trumpet Wagner's successes and wage a feud with the military establishment, accusing it of incompetence and even treason.