Moscow

Russian President Vladimir Putin suggested that the plane crash that killed the head of the Wagner mercenary force, Yevgeny Prigozhin, happened as hand grenades exploded inside the aircraft, reported to source.

He said that Prigozhin’s plane was not hit by a missile as rumoured, and was rather blown up from inside.

Putin further said that the head of Russia’s investigative committee had found traces of explosives in the bodies of those people who died in the crash.

On August 23, Prigozhin died in an airplane crash in Russia’s western Tver region exactly two months after leading an abortive mutiny in Moscow that posed the greatest threat to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s authority in his 23 years in power.

Putin speaking at a meeting of the Valdai Discussion Club in the Black Sea resort of Sochi said, Fragments of hand grenades were found in the bodies of those killed in the crash.

There was no external impact on the plane – this is already an established fact, Putin added while reacting to the claims made by the US officials who believed that the plane was shot down.

Notably, Prigozhin was confirmed dead by Russian investigators on August 27. He was among the 10 people killed when their plane crashed on August 23. Two other top Wagner figures, Prigozhin’s four bodyguards and a crew of three were also killed.

However, Putin did not give any other details about the detonation of grenades.

Moreover, he also said that he thought investigators were wrong in not carrying out alcohol and drug tests on the bodies of those who died in the crash.