Russian President Vladimir Putin surprised some when he suggested that the occupants of Wagner warlord Yevgeny Prigozhin’s private plane detonated hand grenades on board, possibly while high on cocaine, leading to a deadly crash.
At a meeting of the Valdai Debate Club in the Black Sea town of Sochi on Thursday, Putin said that the head of Russia’s investigative committee had informed him a few days ago that Prigozhin’s plane was blown up from within, not shot down by a missile. , while he was flying from Moscow to St. Petersburg.
“Fragments of hand grenades were found in the bodies of those killed in the accident,” Putin said. “There was no external impact on the plane; this is already an established fact.”
Putin did not say how a grenade may have been detonated aboard the Embraer plane, but he suggested that some of the passengers may have been high or drunk during the fateful Aug. 23 flight, saying he thought investigators had made a mistake by not having examined the bodies. of victims of drug and alcohol accidents.
Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed Thursday that Yevgeny Prigozhin’s plane was brought down by hand grenades that detonated on board. AP The head of the Wagner Group died on August 23 when his private plane fell from the sky on the outskirts of Moscow.AP
“In my opinion, such an examination should have been carried out but it was not,” Putin said.
The Russian leader clearly added that FSB raids on the Wagner Group offices in St. Petersburg revealed 11 pounds of cocaine, along with $100 million in cash.
Although Putin noted that the investigation into the aviation disaster was not over, he appeared to be trying to repudiate American claims that Prigozhin’s plane carrying 10 people had been shot down by a missile.
Putin said top Russian investigators told him that grenade fragments were found in the bodies of the crash victims. TELEGRAM/ @grey_zone/AFP via Getty Images Prigozhin died two months after leading a mutiny against Russia’s military leaders. AFP via Getty Images
On Friday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said investigators had not yet produced a final report on the cause of the crash, which occurred exactly two months after Wagner’s boss led a brief mutiny against Russia’s military leadership. .
Putin had publicly called Prigozhin a traitor, before accepting a truce with the mercenary.
Western critics of Putin have accused the Russian leader of having Prigozhin killed in revenge. AP
After the plane crashed in the Tver region, the Kremlin rejected as an “outright lie” the idea that Putin had Prigozhin killed as revenge for his rebellion.
Putin later praised his former ally as a “talented businessman” who, he said, made some “serious mistakes.”
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Source: vtt.edu.vn