Kremlin says Vladimir Putin won’t attend funeral of Yevgeny Prigozhin

Russian President Vladimir Putin has no plans to attend the funeral of Wagner mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, the Kremlin says.

Mr Prigozhin was killed when his plane crashed last week.

The crash came two months to the day after the Wagner leader and his mercenaries staged a mutiny against Mr Putin’s top military commanders in which they took control of the southern city of Rostov and advanced towards Moscow before turning back 200 kilometres from the capital.

“The presence of the president is not envisaged,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters when asked if Mr Putin would attend.

Mr Peskov said the Kremlin did not have any specific information about the funeral, and the arrangements were up to the family.

Investigators said on Sunday that genetic tests had confirmed Mr Prigozhin was among the 10 people killed in the crash.

The Kremlin has rejected as an “absolute lie” the suggestion by some Western politicians and commentators that Mr Putin ordered Mr Prigozhin to be killed in revenge.