Wagner Group Boss Prigozhin Will be Buried Privately in His Hometown of St. Petersburg, USA: It's Absolutely Obvious What's Happening

Condolences for the death of Yevgeny Prigozhin and other Wagner Group officials. (Wikimedia Commons/PLATEL)

JAKARTA - The boss of Wagner Group mercenaries Yevgeny Prigozhin is buried peacefully in the shady cemetery of the City of St. Petersburg, his hometown, on Tuesday or six days after the crash of the plane carrying Prigozhin and his entourage that killed all the crew and passengers.

"Farewell to Yevgeny Viktorovich took place in a closed format. Those who wish to say goodbye can visit the Porokhovskoe Cemetery," his press service said in a short post on Telegram, reported by Reuters, August 30.

The independent news outlet Agentstvo quoted a funeral employee as saying only 20 to 30 friends and family attended the ceremony and it lasted only 40 minutes.

Agentstvo reported "no one in military uniform at the ceremony," according to a cemetery official.

"There were 20 to 30 people. Only relatives, I know them. The ceremony lasted 40 minutes. All of them were wearing civilian clothes," he said.

"I didn't see the military. I've been in the industry for over 30 years, nothing out of the ordinary for me, just a VIP funeral. It's not the first and most likely, not the last," the employee continued.

Videos and pictures show Prigozhin apparently buried next to his father. Images analyzed by CNN show a headstone next to Prigozhin's burial site which reads: "Viktor Evgenievich Prigozhin 1935-1970." It is known that his father died when Prigozhin was still small.

Meanwhile, Russian media outlet MSK1 reported that Prigozhin was buried at the cemetery around 4pm. local time Tuesday.

"That was the wish of his relatives," said the cemetery in response to MSK1's question about why the burial place had not been announced earlier.

Meanwhile, the Kremlin said the decision regarding Prigozhin's funeral rested with his family and was a private matter. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov ruled out President Vladimir Putin's presence at Prigozhin's funeral.

Separately in the United States, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre gave her strongest statement yet on Prigozhin's possible assassination.

"We all know that the Kremlin has a long history of killing its opponents," he said.

"It's very clear what happened here," he said.

The Kremlin itself has denied being behind the plane crash, with its spokesman saying such accusations were lies.

Prigozhin, two main lieutenants of the Wagner group and four bodyguards were among the 10 people killed when his Embraer Legacy 600 private jet crashed north of Moscow on August 23.

He died two months after launching a brief mutiny against military top brass, the biggest challenge to President Vladimir Putin's Government since he came to power in 1999.

In recent days, his admirers have piled flowers at Prigozhin's temporary shrines in Moscow, St Petersburg and elsewhere.