
A behind-closed-doors “farewell ceremony” has been held for the Wagner mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin – a funeral avoided by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Secrecy had surrounded the funeral arrangements for Prigozhin, killed in a plane crash on 23 August, two months to the day after staging a 24-hour mutiny that was the biggest challenge to Mr Putin’s authority since he rose to power in 1999.