The head of the Wagner group, Yevgeny Prigozhin was buried today in St. Petersburghis hometown, behind closed doors and under extreme security measures, in a ceremony he attended Did not help President, Wladimir Putinagainst which he rebelled only two months ago.
Prigozhin passed away on August 23 when he Private plane crashed during which he flew about 300 kilometers northwest of Moscow under still unknown circumstances. He Wagner’s security chief Valeri Chekalov, who also died in the plane crash was buried like his boss in the second Russian city.
The ceremony was characterized by secrecybecause the authorities feared it incidents from the most radical supporters of Prigozhin, some of whom They accuse the Kremlin chief of ordering his assassination. Authorities reported no incidents near the cemetery where The National Guard provided security and was accompanied by explosives detection dogs.
Since then, expressions of mourning for the death of the “Hero of Russia” have not been limited to the former tsarist capital In Moscow, his co-religionists have erected an imposing altar not far from Red Square.
The ceremony behind closed doors
Less than fifty relatives and close associates were able to say goodbye to the leader of the Wagner mercenaries at the Porojóvskoye (Gunpowder) Cemetery. According to media close to Wagner, the family chose this cemetery because it was there also the mortal remains of the father lie of businessman
The domestic and foreign press The place of burial was never known to him until it was already consummated, for which it was even speculated that he would be buried in the same cemetery as Putin’s parents, also natives of Saint Petersburg. In the few pictures that television offers, it looks like this Prigozhin’s tomb is dominated by a photograph, several bouquets of red roses and a covered cross.
“I will walk through the door / without understanding / you are dead or you are alive / you are my son or you are God,” says the epitaph, which is part of a poem by the great Soviet poet Iosif Brodski, that his followers wrote placed at the foot of his grave.
In the absence of Putin and without state honors
There was no state funeral for Prigozhinwho led a failed military uprising against Putin two months ago blamed him So of betrayal. There were neither honor salutes nor a military orchestra like this ones is customary at the funeral of a hero of Russiaas cemetery workers reported to the local press.
Indeed, this morning the Kremlin confirmed that the president would not attend the funeral of Wagner’s boss, whose members Putin called heroes when they took the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut (Donetsk) last May. “The President is not expected to be presentRussian Presidency spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in his daily press conference call. Peskow explained that the organization is managed by the family, but it escaped no notice that no senior federal official had turned up.
“The place of burial unknown, the cemetery unknown, the time unknown, the number of those present unknown (…) The secret funeral of Wagner’s boss is the symbol of Putin’s real fear. Even after the murder of the Wagnerian (…) The Russian dictator is afraid of real mass protests.That’s what Ukrainian Presidential Advisor Mikhailo Podoliak said in Telegram today.
The governor of Tula and Prigozhin’s partner Alexei Diumin was the only one who dared to assure a few days ago that the businessman “he was not a traitor“.
The causes of the accident are unknown
The investigative committee of Russia confirmed this Sunday Identification of Prigozhin’s body and those of the others Nine dead in their Embrae plane crashR. However, for the time being there has been no progress in clarifying the causes of the accident, which Putin described in his message of condolence as a “flight disaster”.
The version of a missile accidentally launched by Russian anti-aircraft batteries has not yet disappeared from social media, although authorities continue to favor an onboard explosion, a technical failure or even pilot error. In Moscow, the existence of a Ukrainian or Western black hand does not appear to have materialized since the incident happened not far from one of Putin’s main residences. Yes indeed, The Kremlin firmly rejects the allegations. opposition and western politicians that Putin is behind the incident.