Grenade frangements were reportedly found at the site of the plane crash which killed Yevgeny Prigozhin, Putin claims (Picture: EPA; AP)
Vladimir Putin has said fragments of a hand grenade were found in the bodies of people who died in the crash of a plane carrying Russian mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin.
The Russian president added that experts investigating the crash found no indication that the plane had suffered an ‘external impact’.
All 10 people on board, including Wagner mercenary group chief Mr Prigozhin, were killed.
Mr Putin said the investigation was continuing and stopped short of saying what caused the crash, but his statement appeared to hint that the plane was brought down by an accidental grenade explosion.
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Mr Prigozhin’s aborted rebellion in June marked the most serious challenge faced by Mr Putin, who has been in power for more than two decades.
Exactly two months after the rebellion started, a plane carrying Mr Prigozhin and his top lieutenants crashed on August 23 while flying from Moscow to St Petersburg.
‘Fragments of hand grenades were found in the bodies of those killed in the crash,’ Putin told a meeting of the Valdai Discussion Club in the Black Sea resort of Sochi.
‘There was no external impact on the plane – this is already an established fact,’ he added, a backhanded reference to unverified claims that the plane had been shot down.
Putin did not share ant more details about how grenades could have made their way onboard the craft, but said he thought investigators were wrong to have not carried out alcohol and drug tests on the bodies given that quantities of cocaine had been found at Wagner’s office in St Petersburg in the past.
The investigators of the crash have yet to report publicly on the cause.
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