Security forces came and threatened to shoot: media reports reveal what happened after Prigozhin's funeral

Media reports have revealed details of the funeral of Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin, which took place on Tuesday evening, and what happened after the ceremony.

Source: BBC Russian; Vazhnye Istorii ["Important Stories"], a Russian media outlet 

Details: Prigozhin's press service announced on Tuesday evening that the farewell to him would "take place in a closed format" (i.e. privately) and "those who wish to say goodbye can visit the Porokhovskoye cemetery."

Preparations for the funeral had been made at several cemeteries in St Petersburg, but Porokhovskoye was not one of those mentioned.

There was no exact information on the time and place of the funeral. On Tuesday, journalists spent the whole day tracking funeral corteges travelling through St Petersburg.

The media outlet MSK1 was told at the cemetery that Prigozhin had been buried at "around 16:00", but the place of the funeral had not been announced at his family’s request.

The Wagner leader was buried next to his father, the TV channel Dozhd ("Rain") reported.

The BBC has reported that the military honours due to Prigozhin as a Hero of Russia were apparently not given during the funeral. The media outlet Agentstvo ("Agency") said, citing an employee of the cemetery, that there were 20-30 people at the funeral, none in military uniform.

Fontanka, another media outlet, reports that visitors to Prigozhin's grave included his widow and daughter.

Vazhnye Istorii reported that visitors were searched before entry, there were a lot of members of the security forces at the cemetery on Wednesday morning, and several Russian Guard buses were parked nearby. Some law enforcement officers spent the night next to the cemetery.

A signpost showing the way to Prigozhin's grave has been hung at the cemetery, and wreaths have been laid there.

The cemetery manager told a Vazhnye Istorii correspondent that Prigozhin's mother had ordered the grave to be dug a day before the funeral. He was buried in a closed coffin.

Quote from the cemetery manager: "Everything happened quietly, calmly, without any fuss. There were hardly any people. There were no salutes. No military either. A normal funeral with VIP [service] elements. It [the grave – ed.] has more sand [on it]; all kinds of flags; the grave is lined with velvet, and the coffin is expensive; ordinary graves are not made like that." 

More details: The manager said the security forces started arriving at the cemetery after Prigozhin's press service had announced the funeral, that is, after the ceremony itself.

Quote from the cemetery manager: "[They came – ed.] right here [to the office building - ed.]. They threatened to shoot. They said: 'Who are you anyway? Get lost! Who's asking you? There are serious people here – colonels by the pound!' I’m just as surprised as you are. This is a very quiet, peaceful family cemetery. I’ve worked here since the 90s. This is the first time anything like that has happened in my long happy life. I don't think this hype will continue.

... In the 1990s, even scarier bandits were buried here; at least the government was involved in arranging the funeral of this one. They [the police officers – ed.] will definitely be here tomorrow, but I don't know exactly how many."

More details: A correspondent from Sever.Realii (a Radio Liberty project) who was present at the funeral of Prigozhin's associate Valery Chekalov at the Severnoye cemetery told the BBC that one of the men who came to the funeral had threatened the journalists, saying that if they refused to film "nicely", then things could "turn ugly" because "there are no police at the cemetery".

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