Wagner leader buried in private ceremony in Russia

Yevgeny Prigozhin, the late leader of the Wagner Group, a private army in Russia, has been buried in a private funeral in St Petersburg, Concord Management, his press service has said.

The company did not specify when the funeral took place.

In a statement on Tuesday, the press service said the ceremony was held in “a closed format”, and added that all those “wishing to say goodbye can visit the Porokhovskoe cemetery”.

Dmitry Peskov, Kremlin spokesperson, said Russian President Vladimir Putin, would not attend the funeral.

The Wagner leader was believed to be aboard a plane that crashed last week and killed all 10 passengers on board.

The Russian investigative committee said it would use molecular genetic examinations to identify the bodies involved in the plane crash.

The crash came two months after Prigozhin led a rebellion against the Russian leader.

Putin had described the mutiny as a stab in the back and vowed that the organisers of the insurrection would face justice.

After the Wagner leader’s death, Putin described the former mercenary leader as a man who made many mistakes but was a talented businessman.

Many analysts and foreign government officials had accused the Russian leader of being behind Prigozhin’s death but the Kremlin dismissed the allegations.