The decision to organize the funeral of the head of Wagner PMC Yevgeny Prigozhin was made in the presidential administration with the participation of representatives of the special services. This was reported by journalist Pyotr Kozlov, citing two Russian officials who requested anonymity.
According to Kozlov's interlocutors, the discussion of Prigozhin's funeral took place within the framework of several meetings attended by intelligence officers, including the FSB. The meetings were also attended by Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration Sergei Kiriyenko. As a result, it was decided that the funeral of the head of the Wagner PMC should be held with minimal resonance in society.
“The task was set in such a way that when the coffin with Prigozhin’s body was lowered into the grave, there would be no mass gatherings of citizens, mercenaries and sympathizers around, as well as no broadcasts and photos on social networks from entering the cemetery,” one of the sources said.
p>
According to Kozlov's interlocutors, the fears of the employees of the special services and the presidential administration were caused by the fact that during the mutiny the Russians began to sympathize with the head of the Wagner PMC.
“Prigozhin, with his demand for justice, harsh and often truthful statements, aroused emotion among Russians and became for them not a formal hero of Russia, but a “people's hero.” Do we need heroes who went to Moscow? No,» said one official. “It’s not even a question of betrayal, but a question of humiliation. I think the country's leadership could not forgive him, ”added the second interlocutor.
Yevgeny Prigozhin was buried on August 29 at the Porokhov cemetery in St. Petersburg. According to the press service of the head of the Wagner PMC, the farewell was held «in a closed format.» On the morning of the same day, the security forces cordoned off two cemeteries — Serafimovskoye in the Staraya Derevnya and Severnoye in the Vyborgsky district of the city.
It soon became known that one of the leaders of the Wagner PMC, Valery Chekalov (call sign Rover), who was among the passengers of the plane that crashed near Tver, was buried at the Northern Cemetery. The time and place of Prigozhin's funeral was not reported in advance.
The Legacy 600 business jet belonging to Prigozhin of the Brazilian company Embraer crashed on the evening of August 23 near Tver. Prigozhin and a number of his associates, including the commander of the Wagner PMC Dmitry Utkin, were listed on this flight. All 10 passengers and crew were killed. The UK claims that molecular genetic testing has confirmed their identities.
This morning, presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: the investigation is considering the version that the crash of Prigozhin's plane was a «deliberate atrocity.» At the same time, Russia did not allow representatives of Embraer and the Brazilian authorities to investigate.
According to Reuters, Prigozhin's business jet model had a good safety record. Embraer representatives said that due to sanctions, the United States stopped serving the jet of the head of the Wagner PMC, bought in October 2018, in 2019.