Wagner head Prigozhin laid to rest in St. Petersburg

By Emre Gurkan Abay

MOSCOW (AA) – The funeral of Wagner head Yevgeny Prigozhin, who was killed in a plane crash last week, was held privately in St. Petersburg, Russia.

“The farewell to Yevgeny Viktorovich (Prigozhin) took place in a closed format. Those wishing to say goodbye can visit the Porokhovskoye cemetery," Prigozhin company Concord said on Telegram.

Earlier, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov spoke to journalists regarding the funeral, saying: “The president's (Vladimir Putin) presence is not foreseen. We don't have information specifically about the funeral. The decision on this matter is made by relatives and friends, here we can't say anything without them.”

Last week, an Embraer-135 aircraft went down near the village of Kuzhenkino in Russia’s Tver region while traveling from the capital Moscow to St. Petersburg, killing all 10 passengers on board, including Prigozhin.

The Russian Federal Air Transport Agency (Rosaviatsiya) released a list of the names of individuals onboard the aircraft, which also included Wagner co-founder Dmitry Utkin and other Wagner personnel.

Russia’s Investigative Committee later said on Sunday that it completed the genetic identification of those who died in the private jet crash, declaring they are the same as the list published by Rosaviatsiya.

Putin extended his condolences to the families of the victims, calling Prigozhin a "talented man with a difficult fate."

Prigozhin made headlines in June when he launched an "armed rebellion" against the Russian leadership before quickly aborting it after a deal brokered by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.

* Writing by Seda Sevencan