Russia's private army, Wagner's boss, Yevgeny Prigohzin, who reportedly received the country's highest award for leading forces in Ukraine, was laid to rest on Tuesday, where President Vladimir Putin chose not to attend in order to keep the funeral low-profile and more 'secret'.
Russian state media and other local outlets, which have been covering the Ukraine war extensively since the first day, awarded a few seconds to the funeral event.
According to reports, a private burial was held with a Russian tricolour and a black Wagner flag but the Russian media cited unidentified sources claiming that the event was kept 'secret' or without any publicity because of his family’s wishes. Members of the Russian National Guard were stationed along the fence at the cemetery, steering visitors away after it closed for the day.
Who killed Wagner's boss?
Earlier last week, the head of the Wagner mercenary army that fought in Ukraine and has been blamed for doing Russia's messy work in Syria and Africa and leading a brief mutiny against Putin was killed along with nine others in a dramatic flight crash. Although the Kremlin denied any wrongdoings or "vendetta" in the death of Prigozhin, the West blamed Putin for the plane crash.
Meanwhile, Putin, who addressed the nation a day after the plane crash, broke his silence on the matter and called him a 'talented businessman'.
"This was a person with a complicated fate, and he made serious mistakes in life but also sought to achieve the necessary results - both for himself and at times when I asked him to, for the common cause, such as in these recent months," said the Russian President on Prigozhin, while noting that he has known the Wagner chief since the 1990s.
According to Putin, a criminal investigation has already begun, but the experts claim it rarely uncovers any breakthrough.
Who was Prigohzin who led the brief mutiny?
Prigozhin-- a Russian oligarch, mercenary chief, and a close confidant of Putin-- is sometimes called "Putin's chef", as he owned restaurants and catering companies that provide services for the Kremlin. However, ever since Putin escalated the war against his neighbouring nation, Ukraine, he led the group, called Wagner. However, his history with leadership in Moscow dates back decades.
Earlier in June Russia witnessed a series of dramatic events after Prigozhin called for mutiny-- in the event that demonstrated a feud between the country's official and private armies publically.
Subsequently, multiple videos showed Wagner fighters capturing the city of Rostov before racing north in convoy, transporting tanks and armoured trucks and smashing through barricades set up to stop them. Later, multiple media reports also claimed oil depots and crucial buildings were blown by the private armed group.
However, the mutiny was averted after Belarus President and Putin's top ally, Alexander Lukashenko, stepped in and brokered a deal to stop the mutiny and moved to his country.
Later, a month after the deal, he suddenly appeared in a video where he could be seen with his soldiers inside the Belarusian border.
Since then, he appeared in several videos but did not disclose the location. Earlier on August 21, a video appeared wherein he could be seen in the African region. But, the authenticity of the video wasn't traced.
