Putin won't attend Wagner boss Prigozhin's funeral

News Agency Of Nigeria 11:12 - 29 August 2023

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Yevgeny Prigozhin in 2010.Alexey Druzhinin/AFP/Getty Images

Russian President Vladimir Putin has no plans to attend the funeral of Wagner mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, who was killed when his plane crashed last week, the Kremlin said on Tuesday.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has no plans to attend the funeral of Wagner mercenary chief, Yevgeny Prigozhin, who was killed when his plane crashed last week, the Kremlin said on Tuesday.

The crash came two months to the day after Prigozhin and his mercenaries staged a mutiny against Putin's top military commanders in which they took control of the southern city of Rostov and advanced towards Moscow before turning back 200 km (125 miles) from the capital.

"The presence of the president is not envisaged," Kremlin spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, told reporters when asked if Putin would attend.

Peskov said the Kremlin did not have any specific information about the funeral, and the arrangements were up to the family.

Investigators said on Sunday that genetic tests had confirmed that Prigozhin was among the 10 people killed in the crash.

The Kremlin has rejected as an "absolute lie" the suggestion by some Western politicians and commentators that Putin ordered Prigozhin to be killed in revenge.