The police suddenly demanded documents about the grave of Yevgeny Prigozhin

The fact that the entrance to the cemetery will be free from August 30, journalists were warned in advance by the police, who cordoned off the entire territory of the graveyard the day before. I arrived at 9 am. By this time, dozens of colleagues had already gathered here. But the entrance was closed again.

“There is an event going on,” the police officer minted. – Then we’ll let everyone through, wait. When it ends, we don’t know.

Soon people left the territory of the Porohovsky cemetery. Few paid any attention to them. Later, information appeared in the media that these were Prigozhin’s relatives. It was not possible to identify them. Men and women did not take off their dark glasses. Cemetery workers watched the video with relatives. “It seems that the mother is not visible, we cannot recognize the others either,” the man who took part in the funeral shrugged.

According to the interlocutor, the cemetery employees themselves were not warned in advance about the visit of relatives of the deceased. “Apparently, their press service agreed with the police,” the interlocutors suggested.

“There are no celebrities here”

Metal detector frames were set up in front of the entrance to the cemetery. Nearby are dogs. The policemen carefully examined the contents of the bags.

Yevgeny Prigozhin was buried in the depths of the cemetery. From the entrance to the grave a couple of minutes on foot. But you won’t find it that easily. Therefore, the workers hung signs on the trees: “To the grave of Prigozhin E.V.”

We pass the administrative building – a small wooden house. Shovels, a broom and garbage bags hang nearby – inventory for those who want to clean up the grave is provided free of charge. There is an outdoor washstand with a mirror. A neat path leads to Prigogine’s grave. Every five meters there are young guys in uniform.

– We just stepped in today, changed the guys who were on duty here all night, – says the young man. Why are we here, don’t ask. We are told, we do. They said – stand, patrol the territory. No more instructions. Those who were on duty at night were fed, and a field kitchen was set up at the entrance to the cemetery.

Our brigade is released at 14.00. They say that we are still fasting this night, tomorrow too, then we sort of disperse. We hope they don’t send us here for the weekend.

The grave of the head of PMC “Wagner” stands out against the general background. It is made of expensive granite black stone. The complex was filled with concrete and designed for two people. I had to open the concrete to make room for another burial.

A nameplate is nailed to a wooden cross over Prigozhin’s grave, below is a portrait in a gilded frame. On the left, Yevgeny Viktorovich’s stepfather is buried, on the right is his father. Above the grave there are two flags – Russian and the second with the Wagner emblem.

I counted exactly ten mourning wreaths. On the ribbons there are inscriptions: “To my beloved and only son from my mother”, “From friends”, “To the best grandfather in the world”, “Daddy, we love you very much”, “From PMC fighters and commanders”, “To my beloved leader and mentor”, “ load 200 we are together”. There are no wreaths from officials and politicians.

I consider who is buried next to Prigozhin. Here is a man who died in 1942, opposite are people who died in the 70s. Some of the tombstones are so old that the name of the deceased cannot be seen. And some even squinted, about to fall. Someone tied St. George ribbons on them. The fences are rusty everywhere, the burials themselves are overgrown with moss.

– There are no “Stars” here, mostly ordinary workers of the gunpowder factory are buried in the cemetery. Recently, those who live nearby are buried here, – the cemetery caretaker explains. – So Prigogine is the only celebrity.

That’s just something people were in no hurry to come to a celebrity.

– Maybe everyone is at work, there is no time for people. Yes, it’s not easy to get here. From the center by metro, then by two trams, the journey will take more than an hour, one of the police officers guesses.

I spent over four hours at the cemetery. During this time, 50 people came to put flowers on Prigozhin’s grave. Some, noticing the camera lenses, did not dare to come close to the grave, confessing that they did not want to shine. Those who were braver quickly left the carnations and left.

Few agreed to communicate. A woman of retirement age said that her son worked at Concorde, then he was mobilized, so she is here. The second lady said that she was well acquainted with Prigozhin’s mother and knew the family. A young guy of about 25 did not personally know the head of Wagner, he came to make sure that he was definitely buried: “To be honest, I did not believe in his death.” A man in a T-shirt with the emblem of the PMC said: “This is my commander.” Girls with red hair were seen, one came in a tight black dress with high heels.

At some point, a couple of pensioners approached the grave.

“It’s not a good place here,” the woman nodded at the site, “Look, a family is buried next to Prigogine – a father and son, on the other hand, the same story. Fathers take children…

“Coffin dear, American”

The most talkative person at the cemetery turned out to be Igor Nazarov, the burial master. He’s in charge here.

– We have inexpensive services. The entire burial complex costs 13,000 rubles; to dig a grave costs 6,000. The Prigozhin family for everything – they gave a penny about everything, only 29 thousand rubles, – says Nazarov.

According to the man, he was informed in advance that the head of Wagner PMC would be buried at the Porohovsky cemetery.

– Agents called, we agreed on everything. The grave was prepared in advance, we were only asked not to disseminate information, – the interlocutor continues. – First, Prigogine was buried in the Church of the Prophet Elijah, which is not far from here. This is a quiet, deserted church, there are practically no people there.

I went to this temple. A candle shop worker confirmed that a mourning ceremony was held on Tuesday. That’s just the question of who was buried, she refused to answer.

“Prigozhin’s coffin was an expensive, American, two-lid, rectangular shape, and not like ours, cheap, which taper to the feet,” adds Igor. “The coffin itself was not opened. The funeral went quietly and calmly. Only relatives and family friends were present. I didn’t see anyone in military uniform.

There were no hymns or speeches. Got it done in half an hour. The police were not around. The entrance was not closed, here ordinary people went.

As soon as Prigozhin’s family left, the press service of his company immediately posted on the Internet information about the burial place of the head of the PMC.

“In 10 minutes, there were policemen, the National Guard, OMON, special forces, cynologists,” recalls Nazarov. – Their leader turned to me: on what basis were they buried? I presented all the documents – a death certificate, explained that Yevgeny Viktorovich’s relatives were buried here.

In addition, we have known Prigozhin’s mother for a long time, she often comes here, called me, asked me to look after the graves. And her son paid for everything. Prigogine himself also appeared here, about once a year.

Understand, this is a small cemetery, we have such a stir for the first time in 30 years of my work. And now they put the police, why? I think it’s overkill. You see, there is no pilgrimage. If today no one came, then in a week and even more so there will be no people. The queue as in the Russian Museum will not gather. It is unlikely that the Wagnerites will all come together here. And in a month everyone will forget about Prigogine. We have a swamp here – you throw a stone, the water does not disperse. In the summer someone else comes, but in the winter not a soul.

Because of this fuss, we cannot hold a funeral today. The bus with the mourners is not allowed through. They didn’t let me in this morning either, they demanded to call the chief. I proved to them that I was in charge here.

There were a couple of hours left before the cemetery closed. The policemen at the exit yawned near the frames of the metal detector. They had little work.

A little further from the cemetery, the security forces, who smoked near the convoy of paddy wagons, were also bored.

– Who is this for? I was surprised by the number of buses. – There are almost no people at the grave.

– We have no idea. We were told to come, we are here. But why didn’t the people come to Prigogine?