US President Joe Biden confirmed that he was not surprised by the crash of the private plane, which was carrying the commander of the Wagner Group, Yevgeny Prigozhin.

"I don't really know what happened, but I wasn't surprised," Biden told reporters.

In response to a question about whether Russian President Vladimir Putin - against whom Prigozhin rebelled earlier this year - was behind the incident, Biden said: "Nothing happens in Russia without Putin's knowledge."

Source: National Iraqi News Agency