Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin buried in cemetery next to father in secret

29 August 2023 , 15:37

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Police officers stand by the grave of Wagner private mercenary group chief Yevgeny Prigozhin (Image: AFP via Getty Images)

Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin has now been laid to rest next to his father after a service took place behind closed doors.

The Wagner boss was killed in a suspicious plane crash last week, just two months after his brief mutiny that challenged the authority of President Vladimir Putin. His spokespeople said today that those who want "to bid their farewell" to the mercenary leader should go to the Porokhovskoye cemetery in St. Petersburg, his hometown. Huge security was put in place around what Russian officials said was his newly filled grave today.

The necropolis was cordoned off in a giant security operation with police and riot police, national guardsmen, and traffic police in a vast clampdown. Telegram channel VChK-OGPU said this was now “the most protected cemetery in the world." A wooden cross towered over his grave covered with flowers and two flags nearby — a Russian tricolour and a black Wagner flag. Russian media cited unidentified sources as saying Prigozhin was laid to rest Tuesday without any publicity, per his family's wishes.

Russian National Guard stand at the Porokhovskoye cemetery where Prigozhin was buried (AFP via Getty Images)

The secrecy and confusion surrounding the funeral of Prigozhin and his top lieutenants reflected a dilemma faced by the Kremlin amid swirling speculation that the crash was likely a vendetta for his June 23-24 uprising. The country’s top criminal investigation agency, the Investigative Committee, officially confirmed Prigozhin’s death on Sunday.

However, not everyone is convinced he's truly dead as one expert claims he is "alive, well, and free" in an unnamed country. Political analyst Dr Valery Solovey, a former professor at Moscow’s prestigious Institute of International Relations, accused the Russian authorities of lying over Prigozhin’s DNA being found at the crash site in Tver region. He said the bid to kill the Wagner supremo had failed because a bodydouble got on the plane in his place.

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The warlord is now "alive, well, and free. Prigozhin himself was not on board. His double was flying instead of him. By the way, Vladimir Putin is perfectly aware of that. If you….believe official statements of the Russian authorities, then what can I say…?", he said.

Police officers stand in front of the closed area of the Porokhovskoye cemetery (AP)

Dr Solovey said he would reveal Prigozhin’s supposed country of exile early next month but denied it was in Africa where the Wagner private army has multiple interests. The Investigative Committee didn’t say what might have caused Prigozhin’s business jet to plummet from the sky minutes after taking off from Moscow for St. Petersburg. Just before the crash, Prigozhin had reportedly returned from a trip to Africa, where he sought to expand Wagner Group’s activities.

Also on Tuesday, a funeral was held at St. Petersburg’s Northern Cemetery for Wagner’s logistics chief Valery Chekalov, who was among the 10 people killed in the crash. Prigozhin’s second-in-command, Dmitry Utkin, a retired military intelligence officer who gave the mercenary group its name based on his own nom de guerre, also was killed.

(AFP via Getty Images)

A preliminary U.S. intelligence assessment concluded that an intentional explosion caused the plane to crash, and Western officials have pointed to a long list of Putin’s foes who have been assassinated. The Kremlin rejected Western allegations the president was behind the crash as an “absolute lie.”

The crash came exactly two months after the brutal and profane mercenary boss launched a rebellion against the Russian military leadership. Prigozhin ordered his mercenaries to take over the military headquarters in the southern city of Rostov-on-Don and then began a march on Moscow. They downed several military aircraft, killing more than a dozen pilots.

Putin had vowed to punish the participants but hours later struck a deal that saw Prigozhin ending the mutiny in exchange for amnesty and permission for him and his troops to move to Belarus. It is now thought his death could be the revenge.

Will Stewart