Putin reported grenade fragments in the bodies of those killed in the crash with Prigozhin

The President said that the head of the Investigative Committee, Alexander Bastrykin, reported to him that there was no external influence on the aircraft of the founder of the Wagner PMCs. Russian President Vladimir Putin, during a speech at the Valdai Club forum, said that the head of the Investigative Committee, Alexander Bastrykin, reported to him that there was no external influence on the plane of the founder of the Wagner PMCS, Yevgeny Prigozhin, while grenade fragments were found in the bodies of the victims.

"The head of the Investigative Committee reported to me just the other day that fragments of a hand grenade were found in the bodies of those killed in the crash, there was no external impact on the plane," Putin said.

He noted that "this is already an established fact, the results of the examination" conducted by the investigation, although it itself has not yet been completed.

Putin also said that "after the well-known events" in Prigozhin's company in St. Petersburg, the FSB found "10 billion in cash", as well as 5 kg of cocaine. "Unfortunately, there was no examination for the presence of alcohol and narcotic drugs in the blood of the victims. <...> In my opinion, it would be necessary to conduct such an examination," the head of state added.

Speaking about the Wagner PMCs, Putin noted that a "private military company" is a "journalistic name", while there is no law on PMCs in Russia. Based on that, the president concluded that the PMCs in Russia "does not exist and did not exist," he said.

According to him, the experience with Wagner was "so clumsy because it was not based on the law" and "was caused by the need for the current conjuncture, frankly speaking, on the battlefield." Putin said that when the Defense Ministry invited the fighters of this PMCs to take part in the fighting, he did not object, "because people acted voluntarily" and "fought heroically." The President said that several thousand fighters of the Wagner PMCs have already signed contracts with the Ministry of Defense. "They want to, and if they want to, then they will take part in hostilities," he added.