Joking netizens called it “special funeral operation”in a relationship “special military operation”, a euphemism the Kremlin has used from the start for its invasion of Ukraine. The funeral of Yevgeny Prigozhin on Tuesday, August 29 in St. Petersburg was held in the strictest secrecy and in incredible conditions.
Despite the fact that dozens of journalists tried to determine the location of the ceremony in the four corners of the city, nothing could be caught until the evening. Finally, the press service of the Concorde company, the parent company of the Wagner mercenary group, indicated on its Telegram website that the funeral took place earlier that day at the Porohovsky cemetery.
In this picturesque place, located in the eastern suburbs of St. Petersburg, the remains of Mr. Prigogine’s father are already buried. His administration claimed to have organized the ceremony. “at the request of the family”.
simple tomb
Neither the date nor the place were given. Petersburg officials themselves admitted that they were kept a secret. The Kremlin also said in the morning that it was not aware of any preparations and assured that Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has been close to the businessman since the 1990s, was not planning to attend.
According to a number of sources cited by independent Russian media, the funeral was attended by only about forty people from among those closest to Yevgeny Prigozhin, who died on August 23 as a result of an unexplained crash of his plane. Therefore, many mercenaries or former fighters of the Wagner group who wished to do so were unable to pay tribute to their leader, to whom they, according to some, dedicate boundless loyalty.
The images that began to appear in the evening showed a very simple tomb topped with a wooden cross (Russian tradition calls for the installation of the stele only after a year). At her feet is an excerpt from a poem Still lifeJoseph Brodsky.
Authorities warning
The authorities used their rich imagination to mislead journalists and the curious. Preparations were reported during the day at three other cemeteries in the city, access to which was restricted. At one of them, the Serafimovsky cemetery, where the parents of Vladimir Putin are buried, one of Prigozhin’s associates, Valery Chekalov, was buried on Tuesday. Dates and locations of planned ceremonies for eight more people on board the plane, including Wagner Group founder Dmitry Utkin, are also being kept under wraps.
You have 44.87% of this article left to read. The following is for subscribers only.