MOSCOW (AP) 鈥 The man who is believed to have given Russian mercenary group Wagner its name was buried Thursday during a quiet ceremony at a military cemetery in Moscow.
Dmitry Utkin died in an Aug. 23 plane crash that killed all 10 people on board, including Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin and his other top lieutenants. The crash between Moscow and St. Petersburg happened two months after Prigozhin led in a brief mutiny against Russia's military leadership.
Utkin, 53, was buried at the Federal Military Memorial Cemetery, where some of Russia's most decorated military heroes are interred. Russian President Vladimir Putin attended some previous services at the cemetery in the Mytishchi district on Moscow's outskirts, but Utkin's was a quiet affair.
Russian social media channels carried videos that showed the burial site cordoned off and police officers standing watch.
Utkin鈥檚 grave bore a rare picture of him. Some photos that previously circulated online showed him with Nazi-style tattoos along with claims that he loved Nazi symbols.
His nom de guerre was Wagner, an apparent reference to German composer Richard Wagner, who was said to be Adolf Hitler鈥檚 favorite, and it became the mercenary group鈥檚 name. Utkin initially was thought to have started the company, but Prighozin identified himself as the founder last year.
Utkin, a former member of Russia's GRU military intelligence service and a retired special forces officer who served in Russian wars in Chechnya, served as . He was responsible for command and combat training for the Wagner group, according to investigations by the Dossier Center and .
While Putin denied early on that the mercenaries had any links to the Russian government, Utkin appeared appeared in a video broadcast from Kremlin reception in December 2016.
A preliminary U.S. intelligence assessment concluded that caused the business jet carrying Wagner's top echelon to crash last week. The Kremlin denied suspicions that the crash was payback for the Prigozhin-led revolt, terming such allegations as an 鈥渁bsolute lie.鈥
this week in a quiet ceremony in his home city of St. Petersburg, ending his tumultuous journey from street thug to Kremlin-financed mercenary leader. Russian state television barely covered the event.
The June mutiny posed the greatest challenge to Putin's grip on power of his 23 years leading Russia. He noted last week that Wagner leaders 鈥渕ade a significant contribution鈥 to the fighting in Ukraine and described Prigozhin as a 鈥漷alented businessman鈥 and 鈥渁 man of difficult fate鈥 who had 鈥渕ade serious mistakes in life.鈥
A short video published posthumously on Grey Zone, a Russian telegram channel associated with Prigozhin suggests the mercenary leader was aware of .
鈥淔or those talking about whether I鈥檓 alive or not, how I鈥檓 doing, now it鈥檚 the weekend, the second half of August 2023, I鈥檓 in Africa," Prigozhin, who is seen traveling in an armored car, says. 鈥淔or those who like to discuss my elimination, private life, income or other things, basically I鈥檓 fine.鈥
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters Wednesday that 鈥渄ifferent versions鈥 of the plane crash exist and 鈥渁re being considered鈥 by Russian investigators, including, 鈥渓et鈥檚 put this way, deliberate wrongdoing.鈥
