The Wagner group has lost a leading figure in Utkin. A Western reporter was able to take a look at Utkin’s grave.
Moscow – With the Wagner group In addition to Evgeny Prigozhin, the name Dmitri Utkin is also connected. He was Prigozhin’s deputy and died in the same plane crash. Two days after Prigozhin’s funeral, he was buried in northern Moscow.
Guarded by a large police presence, around 20 relatives attended the extensive military cemetery in Mytishchi on Thursday morning (August 31). Some mourners wore clothing with the Wagner Group logo, like a AFP– Reporter reported. She was able to catch a glimpse of Utkin’s grave, on which, surrounded by flowers, was a small portrait of a man with a shaved head leaning on a wooden cross.
Less is known about Wagner commander Utkin than about Prigozhin
Little is known about 53-year-old Utkin. The veteran of the Russian military intelligence service GRU was considered Prigozhin’s right-hand man and was responsible for directing the operations of the mercenary group until his death. Utkin is also said to be on Wagner Uprising in Russia to have been involved.
Utkin was considered a co-founder and right-wing extremist. The name “Wagner” is said to go back to his fondness for the German composer Richard Wagner (1813-1883).
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov had told some before Prigozhin’s funeral that President Wladimir Putin will not participate. Prigozhin was buried in St. Petersburg, but largely in secret and without military honours. Previously, a Russian investigative committee based on Prigozhin’s death “molecular-genetic investigations” confirmed.
Western countries and Ukraine consider Russia’s involvement in the plane crash, which was accompanied by speculation, to be possible, which the Kremlin rejected as an “absolute lie”. In the Ukraine war Prigozhin openly criticized the Russian military leadership for not adequately managing the situation on the war front.
Meanwhile, Telegram channels related to the mercenary force have published a still unknown video with Prigozhin. It shows him a few days before his death and was allegedly filmed in Africa. In it he told people who were interested in him and his affairs: “Everything is okay.” (AFP/dpa/frs)
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