INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
The deceased commander and purported co-founder of the Wagner mercenary group has been buried at a Moscow cemetery, the MSK.1 news website
grave, which was at Moscow's Federal Military Memorial Cemetery, decorated with flowers and wreaths
Wagner fighters and Russian military personnel were reportedly among those present at the funeral on Thursday, however, journalists and
ordinary citizens were not allowed to attend the ceremony, MSK.1 said.The funeral was conducted with military honors, the state-run TASS
during a private ceremony in his hometown of St
Petersburg.The decision to keep the late mercenary chief's funeral a secret was made by the Russian presidential administration and the
in both Chechen wars, and in Syria.Russian independent media had referred to Utkin as Wagner's "commander" as far back as 2015-2016,
pictured alongside President Vladimir Putin at a Kremlin reception for Russian "heroes" fighting in the Syrian civil war.Utkin is believed
to have taken part in Prigozhin's short-lived mutiny in June, when Wagner fighters seized control of the Russian military's southern command
center in Rostov-on-Don and launched a lightning-fast march on Moscow.AFP contributed to this reporting.
