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<\/p>\nTHE mystery surrounding Yevgeny Prigozhin's death has been magnified after a puzzling poem was left on his headstone. <\/p>\n
The\u00a0rebel warlord, 62,\u00a0was laid to rest in a "private ceremony" at the \u00a0Porokhovskoye cemetery in\u00a0St. Petersburg on Tuesday. <\/p>\n
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He was buried right next to his biological father Viktor in his hometown, but Vladimir Putin refused to pay his respects at the service.<\/p>\n
It seemed Russia enacted a series of false trails at several graveyards to throw Wagner supporters off the scent. <\/p>\n
The Kremlin appeared desperate\u00a0to avoid\u00a0a mass gathering over fears that Prigozhin's mercenaries and their legion of fans might seize an opportunity to make trouble.<\/p>\n
The intimate affair, attended by around 30 mourners, came a week after he was killed when his private jet was\u00a0blown out of the sky<\/p>\n
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The Embraer Legacy 600 plane exploded in a\u00a0fiery crash that killed all ten onboard, including his second in command Dmitry Utkin. <\/p>\n
Prigozhin became the latest to join a\u00a0staggering body count of at least 40 high-profile deaths\u00a0linked to Putin since he launched his\u00a0bloody war\u00a0in\u00a0Ukraine.<\/p>\n
All eyes have now fallen on Moscow as the world waits for the Kremlin to cough up an explanation for how the failed coup leader met his grisly end. <\/p>\n
Speculation surrounding his death has been rife, despite Prigozhin's death being officially confirmed by Russia's Investigative Committee.<\/p>\n
<\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n Conspiracists have put forward barmy theories that Putin's former pal is in fact still alive and living in an "undisclosed country". <\/p>\n And a peculiar addition to Prigozhin's lavishly adorned grave has only fuelled rumours that he faked his death to avoid Russia's wrath. <\/p>\n Nestled among the rows of flowers and tributes on his headstone, a framed poem was propped up seemingly riddled with mysterious hints. <\/p>\n According to the Kremlin-endorsed media outlet Moskovskij Komsomolets, it reads: "How do I step on the threshold, not understanding, not deciding.<\/p>\n "Are you my son or God? That is, dead or alive?"<\/p>\n The words are an excerpt from a poem penned by Soviet Union writer Joseph Brodsky, titled Still Life. <\/p>\n Although many have suggested it is merely a heartfelt tribute, others believe it is yet another indicator that Prigozhin did not pass away. <\/p>\n It was also pointed out that Brodsky's work was an interesting choice, due to the fact he regularly warred with Soviet leaders. <\/p>\n It comes after a haunting video resurfaced in the wake of Prigozhin's grisly end showing him\u00a0chillingly predicting his own dramatic death.<\/p>\n The Wagner chief likened Russia under\u00a0Vladimir Putin\u00a0to an aircraft "on the brink\u00a0of catastrophe" that could "fall apart in the sky".<\/p>\n Russian expert Valery Solovey boldly declared yesterday that the funeral may have been a sham – as he claimed "Prigozhin was not on board" the doomed jet. <\/p>\n He said: "His double was flying instead of him \u2013 Vladimir Putin is perfectly aware of that.<\/p>\n "His double was flying instead of him \u2013 Vladimir Putin is perfectly aware of that.<\/p>\n "If you place your faith in the official declarations of the Russian administration, then what more can I add?"<\/p>\n Despite the Kremlin declining to launch an international investigation into the crash, a spokesperson said Russia's probe took into account the possibility that it had been caused deliberately. <\/p>\n Moscow mouthpiece Dmitry Peskov said: "It is obvious that different versions are being considered, including the version – you know what we are talking about \u2013 let's say, a deliberate atrocity."<\/p>\n A preliminary U.S. intelligence assessment into the fireball concluded that an\u00a0intentional explosion\u00a0caused the plane to go down.<\/p>\n One of the officials, who could not be named, said the explosion was in line with Putin's "long history of trying to silence his critics".<\/p>\n Sources on Telegram said a consignment of "expensive\u00a0wine" was loaded onboard the aircraft minutes before\u00a0takeoff.<\/p>\n Another claim on\u00a0social media\u00a0was that explosives were concealed\u00a0in the booze packaging.<\/p>\n Prigozhin's flight attendant Kristina Raspopova, 39, had revealed hours earlier to her relatives both a mysterious delay to the flight and\u00a0unexplained repairs\u00a0being made to the jet.<\/p>\n The exiled Wagner chief's private jet went up in flames just 31 miles from\u00a0Putin's\u00a0lavish palace at Valdai, northern\u00a0Russia.<\/p>\n The President\u00a0sent his condolences\u00a0to Prigozhin's family, but pointed out he had made "serious mistakes" and had a " difficult fate".<\/p>\n Prigozhin had been thought to be living on borrowed time for weeks and was reported to have stayed in a hotel with no windows in neighbouring Belarus.<\/p>\n Among the other nine victims of the plane crash was Dmitry Utkin, a shadowy figure with Nazi tattoos seen as Prigozhin's deputy.<\/p>\n He managed Wagner's operations and allegedly had previously served in Russian military intelligence.<\/p>\n The incident came exactly two months after Prigozhin staged his rebellion, which spectacularly backfired and saw him exiled.<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.thesun.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/DD-invictus_COMP-2.jpg\")
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