The burial of the Wagner mercenary group boss, two months after his mutiny, was shrouded in misinformation, preventing a public display of support the Kremlin did not want to see.
Visitors, some tearful, left flowers and other tributes to Yevgeny Prigozhin, the founder of the Wagner private military company, at a sidewalk memorial.
It could be hard for the Kremlin to find a way to neutralize the mercenary group after Yevgeny Prigozhin’s death while retaining its fighting power and geopolitical links.
He shored up Russian forces at their most vulnerable and drew Ukraine into a costly fight for Bakhmut, giving Moscow time to build defenses that are slowing Ukraine’s counteroffensive.
In a Ukraine village, there are no tears for Yevgeny V. Prigozhin, the leader of the Wagner private militia, whose presumed death in a plane crash was reported this week.