The Kremlin confirmed on Tuesday that Russian President Vladimir Putin will not be attending the funeral of Yevgeny Prigozhin, the chief of the Wagner mercenary group, who died in a plane crash last week.
Prigozhin, once a confidant of Putin but later seen as a “traitor,” tragically lost his life in a plane crash last Wednesday. This incident occurred just two months after he had allegedly ordered his troops to overthrow Russia’s military leadership, posing a significant challenge to Putin’s authority – perhaps the most significant since he took office.
Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin spokesperson, addressed the issue during a press conference, stating that there are no plans for President Putin to attend the funeral. No official details have been disclosed regarding the timing or location of Prigozhin’s burial.
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Peskov elaborated, “We have no information specifically about the funeral. The decision in this regard is made by family and friends.”
Last week, Putin described Prigozhin as an individual who had made “serious mistakes in his life, but he achieved the right results.”
Amid speculations that the plane crash might have been orchestrated by the Kremlin in response to the Wagner group’s activities, including an attempted march on Moscow in June, the Kremlin has dismissed any claims of involvement in the crash as an act of retaliation.