Hand grenade fragments found in bodies from Prigozhin plane crash, Putin says

Fragments of hand grenades were found in the bodies of the victims of the August plane crash that killed Wagner Group chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday at the Valdai Discussion Club session.

Putin was informed of this by Alexander Bastrykin, the head of Russia’s Investigative Committee. There was no “external impact” on the plane, Putin added.

The investigation is still ongoing, Putin noted, adding that no alcohol or drug blood tests had “unfortunately” been done on the bodies, despite saying that “we all know” that 10 billion rubles (€94.8 million) in cash and 5 kg of cocaine were found in the Wagner-affiliated offices and apartments that had been searched in St. Petersburg following Prigozhin’s June mutiny attempt.

In late August, a plane with 10 people on board, including Wagner commander Dmitry Utkin, Wagner head of security Valery Chekalov, and Prigozhin, crashed in the Tver region of Russia. The Investigative Committee confirmed the death of all those on board.

Commenting on Prigozhin’s death shortly after the crash, Putin said that he was a “man with a complicated fate” who had made “serious mistakes” but still managed to achieve “needed” results.