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Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin ‘buried privately in St Petersburg cemetery’

Other cemeteries in the Russian city had previously been mentioned in media reports as likely sites for the burial.

Wagner mercenary boss Yevgeny Prigozhin has been buried privately in a “farewell ceremony” in a St Petersburg cemetery, according to his press team.

Prigozhin was killed in a plane crash north of Moscow on 23 August, two months to the day since he led a failed mutiny against top Russian officials.

The aborted rebellion, where he had demanded the ousting of defence minister Sergei Shoigu, was the biggest challenge to President Putin’s rule since he rose to power in 1999.

A portrait of Yevgeny Prigozhin on his grave in St Petersburg. Pic: STR/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

Flowers are seen on Prigozhin’s grave after his funeral at the Porokhovskoye cemetery. Pic: AP

Pictures from the Porokhovskoye cemetery showed Prigozhin’s dark granite tombstone surrounded by an array of flowers, mostly red roses. He is believed to have been buried next to his father.

In a statement on Telegram, the Wagner chief’s press service said: “The farewell to Yevgeny Viktorovich [Prigozhin] took place in a closed format. Those who wish to say goodbye may visit Porokhovskoye cemetery.”

Other cemeteries in the Russian city had previously been mentioned in media reports as likely sites for Tuesday’s burial.

Secrecy had surrounded the funeral arrangements and the Kremlin said earlier that Mr Putin would not attend.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov would not give any details about the burial because it was a private family matter.

Genetic tests confirmed Prigozhin had died in last Wednesday’s crash, Russia’s investigative committee announced on Sunday.

It did not say what might have caused his private jet to plummet from the sky minutes after taking off from the capital heading to St Petersburg.

Sky News spoke to two members of the public, Kirill and Stas, who were passing by the closed cemetery and were asked who they thought killed Prigozhin.

Kirill said: “I think that there are a lot of people who are interested [in his death]. We are mere mortals, we will unlikely get to know about [who is behind it]. The rest is hype and speculation.”

Stas said: “Who am I to judge who is responsible? We are small people. I will say so, I think he’s in a better world now.

Source : https://news.sky.com/story/wagner-boss-prigozhin-buried-privately-in-st-petersburg-cemetery-press-service-12950189

Pro-Kyiv Russians urge Wagner Group to revenge Prigozhin’s death

A view shows portraits of Russian mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin and Wagner group commander Dmitry Utkin at a makeshift memorial in Moscow, Russia August 24, 2023. REUTERS/Stringer Acquire Licensing Rights

A group of Russian militants who fight on the Ukrainian side called on the Wagner Group of mercenaries to switch sides and join their ranks to revenge the deaths of Wagner founder Yevgeny Prigozhin and their commander Dmitry Utkin.

Russian air authorities have said Prigozhin, Utkin and eight other people were on a private plane that crashed with no survivors north of Moscow on Wednesday.

“You are facing a serious choice now – you can stand in a stall of Russia’s defence ministry and serve as watchdogs for executors of your commanders or take revenge,” commander of the Russian Volunteer Corps (RVC) Denis Kapustin said in a video address published late on Thursday.

“To take revenge you need to switch to Ukraine’s side,” the commander said.

The crash came two months to the day after Prigozhin and his Wagner mercenaries staged a mutiny against Russian military commanders in which they took control of a southern city, Rostov, and advanced towards Moscow before turning around 200 kilometers far from the capital.

Russia has opened an investigation into the crash, but its outcome is unlikely to shake a widespread belief that Prigozhin was killed as an act of vengeance for staging the mutiny.

Source: https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/pro-kyiv-russians-urge-wagner-group-revenge-prigozhins-death-2023-08-25/

Russian convicts released to fight with Wagner accused of new crimes

JOINT PRESS SERVICE OF KRASNODAR REGIONAL COURTS

A prisoner believed to have been released early to fight with Wagner mercenaries in Ukraine has been accused of committing a double murder in Russia after returning home from the war.

Demyan Kevorkyan, who was given an 18-year prison sentence in 2016, has been arrested for killing a young man and woman on their way home from work.

He denies the accusation.

The BBC has learned he is not the only convict freed early to fight, pardoned and then accused of reoffending.

He was one of 150 prisoners recruited by Wagner on 31 August 2022 when the head of the mercenary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, visited his prison, according to a former inmate quoted on a social media channel.

The BBC has been told that Kevorkyan was later spotted back in his home village of Pridorozhnaya in Krasnodar, south-west Russia telling people he had just returned from the battlefields of Ukraine.

One of the people he is accused of killing is 19-year-old Tatyana Mostyko, a children’s entertainer. Her mother Nadezhda shows us a video of Tatyana in a pink and blue jumpsuit, dancing and organising games at a party.

“She loved that work,” says Nadezhda. “When she came back from a job, she’d laugh about what they’d been doing, how she amused them.”

Tatyana Mostyko was murdered at the age of 19

But the last job Tatyana did was on 28 April. Her boss Kirill Chubko was driving her home when they got a puncture and pulled over on to the side of a road near the town of Berezanskaya, in south-west Russia. Kirill’s wife Darya told local media he called her to say he’d be late, but not to worry as a group of young people had stopped to help them. That was the last time she heard his voice.

By morning, the pair were still not home. Sensing something was wrong, a worried Darya called the police.

Hundreds of people helped search remote countryside and Tatyana’s mother began a six-hour journey to the area, catching a plane and train from her small village in Siberia, in eastern Russia.

“The worst thing was when we landed and I switched my phone back on. There were endless messages,” says Nadezhda. “You can’t imagine how I panicked. I hurled the phone away, because they could only mean one thing – that it was all over. It was animal fear. I can’t describe it.”

Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-66364272

Niger Coup Not Instigated by Russia or Wagner, But…: Blinken

Blinken said that there was a repeat of what’s happened in other countries, where they brought nothing but bad things in their wake. (File Image: PTI)

The West African nation of Niger, overtaken by a junta following President Mohamed Bazoum’s ousting, is grappling with concerns over Wagner’s potential involvement amid ongoing instability. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, while not attributing the coup to Russia or Wagner, has voiced unease about their presence in the Sahel region.

When asked if he was concerned about the waving of Russian flags on the streets of Niamey by supporters of the recent coup, Blinken said Washington sees Russia “taking advantage of some of these conflicts and weaponising food to try to advance its own interests.”

In an interview with Waihiga Mwaura of BBC Focus on Africa, he said, “…we have concerns when we see something like the Wagner Group possibly manifesting itself in different parts of the Sahel, and here’s why we’re concerned: because every single place that this group, Wagner Group, has gone, death, destruction, and exploitation have followed.”

“I think what happened and what continues to happen in Niger was not instigated by Russia or by Wagner, but to the extent that they try to take advantage of it – and we see a repeat of what’s happened in other countries, where they’ve brought nothing but bad things in their wake – that wouldn’t be good,” he added.

Both the US and France maintain military bases in Niger to counter jihadist groups across the broader region. Following their expulsion from Mali after a coup, French troops established Niger as a critical hub.

Wagner, reputed to possess numerous fighters in the Central African Republic (CAR) and Mali, advances business interests and fortifies Russia’s diplomatic and economic ties, despite allegations of grave human rights abuses in Africa. Speculation arises regarding Niger’s solicitation of Wagner’s aid amid potential military intervention.

Source: https://www.news18.com/world/niger-coup-not-instigated-by-russia-or-wagner-but-blinken-8529014.html

Wagner boss Prigozhin says Russia’s ‘evil’ defense ministry ‘must be stopped’ in latest shocking provocation

Founder of Wagner private mercenary group Yevgeny Prigozhin.Press service of "Concord"/Handout via REUTERS — Founder of Wagner private mercenary group Yevgeny Prigozhin.Press service of “Concord”/Handout via REUTERS

Wagner Group founder Yevgeny Prigozhin blasted Russia’s defense ministry as “evil” on Friday, saying Moscow’s military leadership “must be stopped” after an alleged missile strike killed scores of his fighters, allegations immediately denied by that Russia’s ministry of defense.

In a statement shared to social media, Prigozhin seemed to openly declare taking up arms against Russia’s defense ministry in an escalation of his simmering stand-off, saying that those who were responsible for the death of the Wagner mercenaries and Russian soldiers should be “punished.”

“PMC Wagner Commanders’ Council made a decision: the evil brought by the military leadership of the country must be stopped,” Prigozhin said, according to a translation of his statement. “They neglect the lives of soldiers. They forgot the word ‘justice’, and we will bring it back.”

“I’m asking: no one resist. Everyone who will try to resist, we will consider them a danger and destroy them immediately, including any checkpoints on our way,” the Wagner chief said. “And any aviation that we see above our heads. I’m asking everyone to remain calm, do not succumb to provocations, and remain in their houses. Ideally, those along our way, do not go outside.”

Source : https://www.businessinsider.in/international/news/wagner-boss-prigozhin-says-russias-evil-defense-ministry-must-be-stopped-in-latest-shocking-provocation/articleshow/101226566.cms?utm_source=social_sticky_non_amp&utm_medium=social_sharing&utm_campaign=Click_through_social_share