Tearful mourners gathered in Moscow over the weekend to pay silent respects to the founder of the Wagner mercenary group, Yevgeny V. Prigozhin, and nine other people who Russian authorities said were killed in the crash. of the plane last week.
Hundreds of people placed flowers, photographs, candles and flags — including some with a skull design of a private military group — at a small sidewalk memorial near Moscow’s Red Square.
The gathering reflects the broader appeal Mr. Prigozhin has made for the Russian public as a result of his force’s fierce fighting in Ukraine, despite a strained relationship with Russia’s military leadership and the backlash from his failed coup. -revolt in June, when the Russian president, Vladimir V Putin, initially accused him of treason.
Near the makeshift memorial, many wept openly, expressing shock at the death of a man they said they respected, and grief at the loss of life. Almost everyone expressed their support for the invasion of Ukraine.
“This is a man the whole world fears,” said Alyona, 25. Like many who agreed to be interviewed, Alyona did not want to give her last name because of the political sensitivity surrounding Mr. Prigozhin, who often criticized how the war was conducted in the months leading up to his brief rebellion two months ago.
“That alone deserves respect. He didn’t just make people fear him, he created a system that no one else had, did something that no one else had done,” he said, referring to both Wagner’s creation and the gumption to stand up to the establishment of military of Moscow.
If Wagner is gone, he added, “it will be a great loss.”
Volunteers handed out water, candy and snacks, a funeral tradition in the Russian Orthodox faith. On a low wall by the sidewalk, tea lights crowd memorial candles and funeral wreaths. A long banner reads “To be a soldier is to live forever!”
The few Wagner warriors who came to pay their respects expressed their loyalty to the leader of the mercenary group.
“I was mobilized,” said one soldier, who would give only his call sign, Ensign, and his age, 32. He showed Times reporters a Wagner dog tag emblazoned on the day the city of Bakhmut in Ukraine was obtained in May.
“No one has neglected me; they helped me, they did everything necessary and gave me everything I needed,” said Prapor, who added that he personally met Mr. Prigozhin.
Many could not believe that Mr. Prigozhin had died and his group’s top military commander, Dmitri Utkin — whose call sign was the inspiration for the group’s name.
“We didn’t believe until the last moment,” said Kirill, 31, who wore a Wagner hat and said he had ties to the mercenary group but was not a soldier. He praised the open, colloquial and often rude communication style of Mr. Prigozhin.
“The leaders of Wagner are honest – they told us everything,” he sad. “They talked to people informally, just like they talked to the wider public.” He called Wagner’s capture of Bakhmut, which destroyed most of the city that was home to 70,000 people before the war, “a great success.”
Other mourners said they appreciated Mr. Prigozhin’s populist messages, which included criticism of the military establishment – particularly the defense minister, Sergei K. Shoigu – and at times seemed to extend to Mr. Putin himself.
“Evgeny Prigozhin earned my respect for the simple fact that he fought against this system, against Putin, Shoigu and started active resistance to our government,” said Sergei, a 23-year-old student. “But the fact that his mercenaries are fighting in Ukraine, I am against that.”
Sergei showed photos on his phone of himself being arrested at rallies for another populist who dared to challenge Mr. Putin: Aleksei A. Navalny, who survived a poisoning attempt and was sentenced to more than 30 years in prison on charges that human rights groups say are political.
The Kremlin has denied involvement in the crash, which US officials said they believe was the result of an explosion on the ship, possibly in retaliation for the rebellion.
Sergei said he believed the ten people were ordered to be killed in retaliation for the uprising. And even though Russia’s Investigative Committee said genetic testing showed remains from the crash site matched the names in the jet’s flight log, Sergei said he believed there was a chance Mr. Prigozhin may still be alive.
Billboards across Moscow encourage people to sign military contracts, or proclaim the heroism of fallen soldiers. But in a country where little is said about the casualties, the sidewalk memorial has become a rare place for people to mourn in public.
Elena, a 47-year-old lawyer from the Ukrainian city of Mariupol, cried for about five minutes as she took photos and memories.
“Russia is protecting these people,” he said of Ukrainians living in Russian-occupied territory, calling the death of the Wagner leadership a “tragedy.”
“I feel sorry for these people,” he said. “I monitor the activities of the leaders of the Wagner Group. I thought they were Russian patriots.”
Like most people on the site, he expressed respect for Mr. Prigozhin without trying to directly compare him with Mr. Putin or his Ministry of Defense, and did not take any position on the Wagner uprising or how it was resolved. He was also not ready to think about the cause of the plane crash.
The improvised memorial predates Mr. Prigozhin’s death but has grown rapidly in recent days. It was originally built for military blogger Vladlen Tatarsky, who was killed in a bombing in St. Petersburg in April, and features photos of other prominent pro-war Russians, including Daria Dugina, the daughter of a prominent Russian nationalist, who was killed. in a car bombing in August 2022.
But almost everyone seems to focus on the Wagner leader. Mr. Prigozhin, Alyona said, was unique in his generation in his ability and willingness to openly discuss issues troubling Russian society.
“In our history, there is only one Lenin, one Stalin and one Prigozhin,” he said. “If someone else appears like Lenin, Stalin, or Prigozhin, we will consider ourselves lucky.”
Milana Mazaeva contributed reporting from Washington.
