Passenger’s Claim of Seeing ‘Ghosts of Wagner Mercenaries’ Delays Take-Off

A Russian flight, moments from take-off, was delayed after a passenger became distressed and began shouting on the aircraft.

According to sources on the flight the man claimed he could see “three ghosts of Wagner mercenaries who were watching him”.

Russian news outlet, Mash, reported that the incident occurred on a S7 Airlines flight from Novosibirsk to St Petersburg and that the passenger involved was a 37-year-old man.

Anton Gerashchenko, adviser to the minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, shared footage of the incident on social media.

In the video, in which English subtitles have been added, the man can be heard shouting, “Stop the take-off. Do it fast. Stop the take off quickly. Do it fast. I can see. Stop. Stop the take-off. Make a stop.”

The clip was also shared on a Telegram channel belonging to the Russian news outlet, Baza.

“The passenger demanded to stop the take-off because he was allegedly pursued by three unknown people from the PMC [Wagner Private Military Company],” a caption read alongside the video.

According to Mash, the man was calm when he first entered the cabin but jumped up after experiencing hallucinations.

The passenger then reportedly tried to open the plane door and enter the flight deck.

When cabin crew were unable to calm the man down, he was escorted from the plane. The plane eventually departed after a two-hour delay.

It is understood that the passenger is now in the care of mental health experts.