According to the Kremlin today, Russian President Vladimir Putin will not attend the funeral of Yevgeny Prigozhin, the leader of the Wagner mercenary group, who passed away last week in a plane crash.
Two months after directing his men to overthrow Russia’s military leadership, Prigozhin—a Putin ally turned “traitor”—was assassinated last Wednesday, in what experts regarded the largest challenge to Putin’s authority since he took office.
When asked if Putin would attend the funeral, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov responded, “The president’s presence is not envisaged.”
The funeral arrangements for Prigozhin, who aged 62, have not been made public.
“We don’t know anything specific about the funeral. In this case, family and friends decide,” Peskov continued.
Last week, Putin stated that Prigozhin had “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.