Grenade fragments found in bodies after Wagner chief’s plane crash – Putin

Yevgeny Prigozhin (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, File)

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.

Vladimir Putin (Vladimir Smirnov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo/AP)

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.

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.