menu-control
The Jerusalem Post

Russia's Putin won't attend Prigozhin funeral - Kremlin

 
 A view shows portraits of Russian mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin and Wagner group commander Dmitry Utkin at a makeshift memorial in Moscow, Russia August 24, 2023. (photo credit: REUTERS/STRINGER)
A view shows portraits of Russian mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin and Wagner group commander Dmitry Utkin at a makeshift memorial in Moscow, Russia August 24, 2023.
(photo credit: REUTERS/STRINGER)

Prigozhin died when his business jet crashed last week, two months after he and his Wagner mercenaries staged a mutiny against Putin's military.

The funeral of Russian mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, who was killed in a plane crash last week, was held privately at a cemetery on the outskirts of his hometown St. Petersburg, his press service said on Tuesday.

The crash came two months to the day after Prigozhin and his mercenaries staged a mutiny against Putin's top military commanders in which they took control of the southern city of Rostov and advanced towards Moscow before turning back 200 km (125 miles) from the capital.

"The presence of the president is not envisaged," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters when asked if Putin would attend.

Peskov said the Kremlin did not have any specific information about the funeral, and the arrangements were up to the family.

Advertisement

Investigators said on Sunday that genetic tests had confirmed that Prigozhin was among the 10 people killed in the crash.

The Kremlin has rejected as an "absolute lie" the suggestion by some Western politicians and commentators that Putin ordered Prigozhin to be killed in revenge.

×
Email:
×
Email: