Since Wagner Group warlord Yevgeny Prigozhin is buried six days after the dramatic plane crash that killed him, is this the last living photo of him?
- The Wagner chief was buried in St Petersburg yesterday, six days after his death
- The last photo shows the leader in the Central African Republic with benefactors
Dressed as a tourist, Yevgeny Prigozhin poses with well-wishers in what is believed to be the last photo of him alive.
The warlord was buried in his hometown yesterday, six days after his death in a plane crash.
The Wagner chief was one of 10 people killed when his executive plane was sabotaged on a flight from Moscow to St Petersburg – shortly after returning from a visit to Africa.
A private funeral took place in St. Petersburg under tight security — and also amid speculation that a doppelgänger, rather than Prigozhin, actually died in the crash.
There was no representative from the Kremlin, where Vladimir Putin is widely suspected of plotting the murder of his former friend. Last Wednesday, Prigozhin’s Embraer Legacy 600 aircraft was seen engulfed in flames before crashing to the ground north of Moscow.
Yevgeny Prigozhin poses with benefactors during a visit to the Central African Republic, in what is believed to be his last living photograph
It is believed that a bomb was detonated during the flight, although the smoke trails observed may indicate that the aircraft was the target of a surface-to-air missile.
The latest photo, which appeared yesterday, shows the leader of the mercenaries in the Central African Republic. CAR is one of many African states where Wagner provided security to ruling elites in return for a share of the country’s highly valuable natural resources.
Upon release of the photo, the Wagner group bizarrely referred to the brash Prigozhin as a “second Nelson Mandela,” writing that he was “with the grateful people of Africa.” Prigozhin, who usually wore military clothes, looks relaxed in jeans and a casual short-sleeved shirt.
Just hours later, he began the fateful journey home, which ended in his death. However, yesterday it was speculated that he is still alive.
A respected Russian political analyst suggested that Prigozhin’s doppelgänger was killed in the crash.
Dr. Valery Solovey claimed that the Kremlin lied about Prigozhin’s DNA found at the crash site.
A portrait of Prigozhin in a makeshift memorial to the mercenary leader
The former professor at the prestigious Moscow Institute of International Relations said: “Prigozhin himself was not on board. His body double flew instead of him. Vladimir Putin is well aware of this, by the way.
“If you believe the official statements of the Russian authorities, what can I say?
“He intends to take revenge on the people who wanted to destroy him and destroyed people close to him.”
In a statement on the social media platform Telegram, Prigozhin’s press service said: “The farewell to Yevgeny… took place in a closed format. Those who want to say goodbye can visit the Porokhovskoye cemetery.’
The Wagnerian chief died two months after leading a mutiny against the Kremlin that would briefly plunge Russia into civil war as Prigozhin and thousands of his soldiers rode from the Ukrainian front towards Moscow. Putin has exiled him to Belarus as punishment.