Yevgeny Prigozhin

The burial ground houses 1,000 soldiers from the mercenary group, whose leader died in a plane crash after leading a mutiny against Vladimir Putin. In the villages of the province, the absence of young people who have gone to the front is palpable

Some sectors of the military celebrated the general’s departure and now questions are being asked over the position of chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov, overall commander of Kremlin forces in Ukraine

After consolidating in Mali, Moscow is strengthening its collaboration with Burkina Faso and Niger through an armed structure intended to replace the Wagner Group

The order signals the Kremlin’s effort to keep using the mercenaries after the death of their chief, Yevgeny Prigozhin

What caused Prigozhin’s private jet to plummet into a field northwest of Moscow is still a mystery and the Russian military leaders he tried to oust with his armed rebellion remain in power

The Kremlin said earlier that President Vladimir Putin wasn’t planning to attend the funeral

Committee spokeswoman Svetlana Petrenko said in a statement that forensic and genetic testing identified all 10 bodies recovered at the site of Wednesday’s crash

Prigozhin, whose brutal fighters were feared in Ukraine, Africa and Syria, was eulogized by President Vladimir Putin, even as suspicions grew that the Russian leader was behind the accident that many saw as an assassination

Their deaths range from the exotic — from drinking polonium-laced tea or touching a deadly nerve agent — to the more mundane of getting shot at close range

Drawn by natural resources, the mercenary corporation operates in Libya, the Central African Republic, Sudan, and Mali, where they strive to spread Russian influence and enrich the Kremlin

US intelligence and some Russian media point to an attack on the plane in which the Wagner leader was traveling. ‘He was a man of difficult fate, and he made serious mistakes in life,’ said the Russian president

The list of the deceased includes the firm’s second-in-command, its head of logistics and other senior officials. Two pilots and a stewardess were also killed

President Putin on Thursday expressed his condolences to the families of those who were reported to be aboard the jet and referred to ‘serious mistakes’ by Prigozhin, who led an insurrection against the Russian military two months prior to his death

The Wagner company has played a decisive role in the war in Ukraine, where it has managed to maintain control of Russian positions in Donbas

The crash immediately raised suspicions, since the fate of the founder of the Wagner private military company has been the subject of intense speculation ever since he led a brief armed rebellion against the Russian military two months ago

The head of the Russian paramilitary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, has been meeting with representatives from Mali, the Central African Republic and Niger. The United States, meanwhile, is attempting to block the Wagner Group from profiting from African mines

The destabilization in the African region poses a higher threat of jihadist terrorism and increased flows of migrants to Europe

While many people in the capital of Niamey went about their usual business, it remained unclear who was in control of the country and which side the majority might support

Messaging app channels linked to Prigozhin’s Wagner private military company said he spoke to his troops at a field camp in Belarus and ran a blurry video purported to show him speaking there

Belaruski Hajun, a Belarusian activist group that monitors troop movements in Belarus, said a convoy of more than 100 vehicles carrying Russian flags and Wagner insignia entered the country on Monday

The Wagner head has not commented on the meeting with Putin, and his ultimate fate remains unclear, as he could still face prosecution for financial wrongdoing or other charges

The crisis in Russia over Wagner’s mutiny has revealed the complex network of troops working in and outside of the country. The Kremlin helped create a system that has now turned against him

The failed rebellion of Wagner’s mercenaries has shown the cracks in the Russian leader’s power. In addition to the war in Ukraine, the president faces international pressure, faltering domestic support and a bleak economic outlook