Russian President Vladimir Putin revealed today, Thursday, that fragments of hand grenades were found in the bodies of the victims of the plane crash involving the former leader of the Wagner private military group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, in August. He hinted that the plane crash that carried Prigozhin resulted from detonations of hand grenades inside the aircraft rather than a missile attack. The private "Embraer" aircraft, which Prigozhin was aboard while heading to St. Petersburg, crashed in an area north of Moscow, resulting in the death of ten people.
Putin indicated that the aircraft exploded from the inside, stating that the head of the Russian investigation committee informed him of this a few days ago. During a meeting of the Valdai Discussion Club held in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, he said, "Fragments of hand grenades were found in the bodies of the plane crash victims." He added, "There were no external traces on the plane; this is a proven fact," seemingly downplaying the importance of claims made by unnamed U.S. officials who speculated shortly after the incident that the plane was shot down.
Putin did not provide further details on how a bomb or grenades could have exploded on board the aircraft, but he expressed his belief that investigators erred in not conducting analyses for alcohol and drugs in the bodies of the crash victims. He added, "In my opinion, this analysis should have been performed, but it was not."
He also mentioned that the Russian Federal Security Service found ten billion rubles (about 100 million dollars) and five kilograms of cocaine during searches of Wagner's premises in St. Petersburg. Investigators have not yet announced the cause of the plane crash. Attempts to contact Wagner or Prigozhin's family for comments on Putin's statements were unsuccessful.
