Putin says grenade traces found in bodies of Prigozhin plane crash victims

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00:00 His mutiny was seen as one of the greatest challenges to Vladimir Putin's rule, and

00:05 his death remains shrouded in mystery.

00:08 On Thursday, Putin hinted the plane crash that killed Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin

00:13 could have been an inside job.

00:15 "Fragments of hand grenades were found in the bodies of those killed in the plane crash.

00:21 There was no external impact on the aircraft."

00:25 The comments came amid an ongoing Russian investigation into the crash and were impossible

00:30 to verify.

00:32 But they could add another layer of intrigue to the story of Prigozhin's spectacular

00:36 demise.

00:37 On June 23rd, the then-leader of mercenary group Wagner launched an armed mutiny against

00:42 the Kremlin.

00:44 His troops swiftly took control of military headquarters in Rostov-on-Don, killing several

00:49 Russian soldiers, and started marching towards Moscow.

00:53 But the mutiny came to an abrupt halt after Prigozhin reportedly agreed to relocate his

00:58 fighters to Belarus in exchange for amnesty.

01:02 Two months later, on August 23rd, Prigozhin died in a plane crash alongside nine other

01:07 people.

01:08 At the time, a preliminary US intelligence assessment pointed to an intentional explosion

01:14 and appeared to lay the blame at Putin's feet, pointing to his long history of silencing

01:19 opponents.

01:20 But the Russian president's latest comments could now lead to more speculation on the

01:25 circumstances surrounding the crash.

01:28 Putin also said thousands of Wagner troops had since signed contracts with the Russian

01:32 defence ministry, in a sign the Kremlin could take over the paramilitary group after Prigozhin's

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