Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of the Russian mercenary force, was honored privately, according to his press office on Tuesday, which urged mourners to pay their condolences at a cemetery in his hometown of Saint Petersburg.
Two months after directing his men to overthrow Russia’s military leadership, Prigozhin—a Kremlin ally who became a “traitor”—was assassinated last Wednesday.
“Yevgeny Viktorovich’s farewell was held in a closed setting. Those wishing to say goodbye can visit the Porokhovskoye cemetery,” it said in a statement, without specifying whether the mercenary chief killed in a plane crash had been buried.
The founder of the Wagner private fighting group decided to direct his forces towards Moscow, which, according to many, represents the most important direct challenge to President Vladimir Putin’s authority since he assumed office.
The Russian president would not go to Prigozhin’s funeral, according to the Kremlin’s earlier statement on Tuesday.
“The president’s presence is not envisaged,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
The funeral and burial arrangements for Prigozhin, 62, were not made public.
Prigozhin, according to Putin’s assessment of him last week, “made serious mistakes in his life, but he achieved the right results.”
The Kremlin has denied rumors that it planned the disaster as payback for Wagner’s June march on Moscow.
