“Farewell ceremony” Evgeny Prigozhin was held in private

Police officers stand at the grave of Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of Wagner private security company, after his funeral in St. Petersburg on Tuesday Photo: OLGA MALTSEVA/AFP

Yevgeny Prigozhin was buried in a private ceremony in St. Petersburg six days after his plane crashed to the ground, his press office said.

Police cordons were set up at three city cemeteries on Tuesday. sparking rumors about where Wagner's mercenary boss would be buried.

A 62-year-old businessman involved in grave war crimes in Ukraine and abroad was taken to the Porohovskoye cemetery, where his father is buried “, the message says.

At the Serafimovsky cemetery in St. Petersburg, security has been strengthened. Photo: ANTON VAGANOV/REUTERS

Police officers were seen stationed every 10 meters along the street. cemetery fence on Tuesday evening.

The announcement was made shortly after the Kremlin announced that Vladimir Putin would not attend the field commander's funeral.

Photos allegedly taken at the cemetery show picture is in a frame. Prigozhin at a recently excavated grave believed to have belonged to his father.

News site MSK1 later reported that the funeral was secret at the request of his family.

In one of the other cordoned-off ceremonies, Valery Chekalov, who also died in a plane crash last week, was buried.

About 100 mourners, some of them wearing Wagner insignia, came to the cemetery to say goodbye to the man who reportedly ran Prigozhin's business empire.

Several hearses and luxury cars previously used by Prigozhin were spotted at another cemetery on the outskirts of Russia's second largest city before they left.

There was speculation that the cars may have acted as decoys to divert news attention . Media.

The potential presence of the Russian president at the funeral of the man who raised the first rebellion in post-Soviet Russian history has become a political issue.

Yevgeny Prigozhin's tombstone at the St. Petersburg cemetery, where he was buried next to his father. Photo: Kevin Rothrock

The president's spokesman told Russian news agencies on Tuesday that Putin's visit “was not planned” and he views the funeral as a private, family matter.

The 62-year-old military leader was once awarded the title of Hero of Russia – one of the country's main military awards, which gave him the right to a pompous state funeral.

But there were questions. raised the question of whether it is appropriate for the Kremlin to offer such a funeral to a man who rebelled against him just two months ago.

On Sunday, DNA tests confirmed that a plane crash between Moscow and Moscow last week killed St. Prigogine and his closest associates. Investigators have not publicly announced the alleged cause of the crash.

A woman lights a candle at a makeshift monument to Yevgeny Prigozhin in Moscow Photo: MAXIM SHEMETOV/REUTERS