In a statement on Tuesday, the Kremlin announced that Russian President Vladimir Putin will not be attending the funeral of Yevgeny Prigozhin, the chief of the Wagner mercenary group who died in a plane crash last week.
The crash occurred exactly two months after Prigozhin and his mercenaries rebelled against Putin’s top military commanders. They temporarily gained control of Rostov, a city in southern Russia, and advanced towards Moscow. However, they eventually turned back 200 km (125 miles) away from the capital.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov informed reporters that Putin’s attendance at the funeral is not planned. Peskov added that the Kremlin is unaware of the funeral details as they are being handled by Prigozhin’s family.
Investigators have confirmed through genetic tests that Prigozhin was one of the ten casualties in the crash.
The Kremlin vehemently denies the allegations made by certain Western politicians and commentators who claim that Putin ordered Prigozhin’s assassination as an act of vengeance.
(Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Mark Trevelyan/Guy Faulconbridge)
Credit: The Star : News Feed
