Russian mercenary leader buried in private ceremony

Spokespeople for former Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin said on Tuesday the general-for-hire was buried in a private ceremony at his hometown of St. Petersburg. Prigozhin died in a plane crash in Russia last week that killed nine other people. He had led elite mercenaries for Russia in Ukraine before staging a brief rebellion against the Kremlin in June.

What reaction has the Kremlin given? Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Tuesday that Russian President Vladimir Putin was not scheduled to attend the funeral. Putin previously said that he had known Prigozhin for decades. U.S. President Joe Biden has said Putin could be responsible for Prigozhin’s death, and Pentagon officials have said preliminary intelligence assessments have indicated the plane crash was the intended result of an explosion. The Kremlin has denied responsibility.

Dig deeper: Read Evgeny Kosykh’s report in WORLD Magazine about the Wagner Group.