- Putin adds that the dead bodies were not tested for alcohol and drugs, although such tests should have been carried out
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday said fragments of a hand grenade were found in the victims who died in a deadly August plane crash that killed 10 people, including Wagner Private Military Company (PMC) Group chief Yevgeny Prigozhin.
Putin said the crash investigation was not yet complete, but there was no “external influence on the aircraft.”
Speaking at a meeting of the Valdai International Discussion Club in the Black Sea Resort of Sochi, Putin stated: “I know, there is probably a question that is begging to be asked about what happened to the company’s leadership. We know about the plane crash. The head of the Investigative Committee briefed me just the other day.
“Fragments of hand grenades were found in the bodies of those killed in the crash. There was no external impact on the plane, and this is an established fact, the result of an examination that was conducted by the Russian Investigative Committee.”
He went on to say that the dead bodies were not tested for alcohol and drugs, although such tests should have been carried out.
“The investigation is ongoing, but, regrettably, no tests were carried out to determine whether alcohol or drugs were present in the blood of the deceased. However, we all know that after the events that you are well aware of, the FSB [Federal Security Service] found five kilograms of cocaine in the company’s office in St. Petersburg, along with ten billion rubles,” he said.
“In my opinion, a test of this kind should have been carried out, but it wasn’t,” the Russian President added.
“That’s all I can say,” he continued. “I asked the chairman of the Investigative Committee if I can say this publicly, and he replied: ‘Yes, you can, it’s a proven fact.’”
The Kremlin has denied any role in the plane crash but said in late August that “deliberate wrongdoing” was likely behind it.
The plane crashed outside of Moscow, killing Prigozhin and Dmitry Utkin, a top commander of the private military company Wagner Group, among others.
Videos showed the plane exploding in midair before debris rained down onto a nearby field, but it is not clear what caused the explosion.
Prigozhin led thousands of Wagner troops against Putin in June and only halted the rebellion after reaching a deal with the Russian President. In the agreement, the mercenary company chief agreed to exile himself in Belarus in return for terrorism charges being dropped.
Putin has since moved to absorb most of the Wagner Group and announced Thursday that thousands of fighters have signed contracts with the Russian Ministry of Defense.
He said it was a “big mistake” to not have these private soldiers under contract before, but he questioned their continued role in Russian affairs.
“Whether we need them or not, we will think about it,” Putin said.