On the sharp Baer--Suzuki theorem for the $π$-radical
Let $π$ be a set of primes such that $|π|\geqslant 2$ and $π$ differs from the set of all primes. Denote by $r$ the smallest prime which does not belong to $π$ and set $m=r$ if $r=2,3$ and $m=r-1$ if $r\geqslant 5$. We study the following conjecture: a conjugacy class $D$ of a finite group $G$ is contained in $Oπ(G)$ if and only if every $m$ elements of $D$ generate a $π$-subgroup. We confirm this conjecture for each group $G$ whose nonabelian composition factors are isomorphic to alternating, linear and unitary simple groups.