The press service of the Wagner Group has reported that a private burial was held for Yevgeny Prigozhin, the chief of the organization.

According to the press agency, the funeral of Yevgeny Prigozhin, the principal of Wagner Group, took place in St. Petersburg in a private setting.

The service, which took place in the individual's hometown, was conducted in a "restricted format", with an opportunity for individuals desiring to bid farewell to attend the Porokhovskoye cemetery in the city.

The Russian authorities have officially declared the death of Prigozhin, aged 62, following the completion of genetic tests on the remains of 10 individuals recovered from a plane crash near Moscow on 23 August.

The Kremlin has refuted allegations suggesting its responsibility for the tragedy.

However, several individuals who closely monitor Russia, both domestically and internationally, have characterized Prigozhin as a person facing imminent demise following his involvement in a failed armed rebellion in June.

The incident resulted in the unfortunate demise of all ten individuals present aboard the aircraft, which included Dmitry Utkin, a prominent associate of Prigozhin. The crash occurred in the Tver region, situated in the north-western part of Moscow.

The Wagner press agency issued a concise statement on the messaging platform Telegram on Tuesday, providing details of Prigozhin's funeral.

The information presented lacked additional specifics.

According to the MSK1 website in Russia, officials at the cemetery said that the funeral took place at approximately 16:00 local time (13:00 GMT) on Tuesday.

According to the officials, the expressed desire of Prigozhin's relatives was as follows.

According to MSK1, it was reported that Prigozhin was interred in close proximity to his father's burial site. The presence of Wagner's black-yellow-red flag was observed at the location.

In addition, the funeral service for Valery Chekalov, the esteemed deputy of Prigozhin, who was also a passenger on the ill-fated aircraft, took place on Tuesday at the Severnoye cemetery in St. Petersburg. The individual, aged 47, is purportedly responsible for overseeing Prigozhin's non-military commercial endeavors, which are alleged by Western governments to serve as a means of funding the mercenary organization.

Earlier in the day, Dmitry Peskov, the spokesperson for Russian President Vladimir Putin, stated that President Putin will not be present at Prigozhin's funeral. It is worth noting that Prigozhin's fighters played a significant role in the comprehensive invasion of Ukraine initiated by President Putin in February 2022.

President Putin maintained a prolonged period of silence lasting around 24 hours subsequent to the occurrence of the tragedy. On the subsequent day, he expressed his sympathies to the families of all the victims.

The individual in question characterized Prigozhin as a person possessing notable abilities, although acknowledging that he had committed significant errors in the course of his life.

In June, Prigozhin, formerly aligned with Putin, spearheaded a revolt against the highest-ranking military officials within the Russian armed services.

The mercenaries under his command successfully seized control of the city of Rostov-on-Don in southern Russia, and proceeded to advance towards Moscow. However, the mutiny was eventually brought to a halt only 200km (125 miles) away from the capital.

During that period, Mr. Putin characterized the uprising as an act of "treachery" and a "betrayal," but a subsequent agreement was reached wherein Wagner fighters were given the option to either integrate into Russian regular army forces or relocate to Belarus, a nation aligned with Russia.

Nevertheless, there has been widespread conjecture suggesting potential Russian security forces' involvement in the aircraft accident.

According to US officials cited by CBS, the media partner of the BBC in the United States, the predominant hypothesis on the crash is that it resulted from an explosion occurring within the private jet.

Mr. Peskov categorically refuted allegations of misconduct, describing them as a completely false assertion.