‘Memorial service for Yevgeny Prigozhin held’

St Petersburg: A memorial service has taken place for mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, who was killed in a plane crash last week, his spokespeople said Tuesday in a terse statement on social media.

“Those who wish to bid their farewell” to the 62-year-old mercenary leader should go to the Porokhovskoye cemetery in St. Petersburg, his hometown, the statement said.

Earlier media reports about the funeral mentioned other cemeteries in the city as likely sites for the burial, which has been shrouded in secrecy.

It wasn’t clear from the statement if Prigozhin has already been buried or if it was still to happen. Earlier, the Kremlin said President Vladimir Putin is not planning to attend a funeral for Prigozhin, who who challenged the Russian

leader’s authority in an armed rebellion in June.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov wouldn’t give any details about the burial because it was a private

family matter.

The tight secrecy and confusion surrounding the funeral of Prigozhin and his top lieutenants reflected a dilemma faced by the Kremlin amid swirling speculation that the crash was likely a vendetta for his mutiny. While it tried to avoid any pomp-filled ceremony for the man branded by Putin as a traitor for his June 23-24 rebellion.