Supporters of Wagner Group leader Yevegny Prigozhin, who is believed to have been killed in a dramatic plane crash, have started laying flowers outside the former headquarters of the mercenary outfit in St.
Petersburg.Russian officials said Prigozhin and several of his close aides were on board the Embraer executive jet that crashed in northwestern Russia on Wednesday.
However, the Wagner boss' death has not yet been confirmed.Makeshift memorialsappeared outside the private military group's former headquarters around midnight Thursday, with footageshowing mourners bringing flowers, candles and patches featuring Wagners skull logo.Similar memorials werespotted in the Siberian city of Novosibirsk, according to the news website Sota.
At least one supporterstaged a one-man picket in the city of Yaroslavl, the news website 7x7 reported."Guys, we just have no words right now,"saidone masked man, who claimed to be a member of Wagner, according to AFP journalists."Let's support Yevgeny Viktorovich [Prigozhin] and all our commanders.
We need your support now."While law enforcement in St.
Petersburg did not interfere with the gathering, they did check the personal documents of mourners and journalists,according to Sota.I wont be afraid to say that Yevgeny Prigozhin is a Russian hero, a supporter who introduced himself as Arsentoldthe local Fontanka news website.Hes a man of his word.
Hes done a lot not only in the course of the special military operation, [but] in defending Russias interests in the world, the Syrian campaign [and] in Africa, he said.Wagneropened its St.
Petersburg headquarters in November.
It was seen as part of the paramilitary groups and Prigozhins growing public profile in the months after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.PMC Wagner Centers social media page in Julysaid it was moving out of the headquarters, just a week after Prigozhin staged a failed coup against Russia's military leadership and was forced to leave for neighboring Belarus in exchange for dropped mutiny charges.Observers and world leaders speculated that Prigozhins presumed death was President Vladimir Putins signal to other members of the ruling elite that he would not tolerate disloyalty.An RBC news website correspondentnoted that flowers continued pouring into the ex-Wagner center on Thursday morning, after its employees had removed flowers laid overnight.