Wagner chief Prigozhin alive? Poem on his grave fuels speculation

A puzzling poem discovered at the tombstone of the late Yevgeny Prigozhin, the Russian Wagner mercenary leader, has emerged, intensifying the speculation that he may still be alive. Once recognized as “Putin’s chef,” Prigozhin met his demise alongside nine others when his Embraer Legacy 600 aircraft crashed to the earth during a recent flight connecting St Petersburg and Moscow. Reports of a possible explosion on the plane have surfaced subsequently. Confirming the 62-year-old’s demise required genetic analysis of the fire-engulfed aircraft wreckage. An ongoing inquiry into the crash is also underway. Despite the official verification of his passing, numerous conspiracy theorists and supposed Russian “specialists” persistently assert that he remains living in an undisclosed location abroad. Presently, photographs from his restricted funeral—purportedly arranged by his mother, Violetta Prigozhin—exhibit armed guards, scent-tracking canines, and a peculiar poem framed and positioned on the grave marker. As per the state-endorsed Russian media outlet Moskovskij Komsomolets and the Telegram channels Rotunda and VChK-OGPU, the framed poem, observed during the funeral attended Lyubov Prigozhina, 52, and the Wagner mercenary supremo’s elder daughter Polina, 31, comprises these verses: ‘Mother says to Christ: Are you my son or my God? You’re nailed to the cross, how will I go home?’ it read. ‘How will I step on the threshold, not understanding, not deciding: Are you my son or God? That is, dead or alive. ‘He says in response: Dead or alive, no difference, woman. Son or God, I am yours,’ The excerpt is borrowed from a composition by the Russian/Soviet Union poet Joseph Brodsky, entitled Still Life. Earlier that day, a hearse was spotted traversing St Petersburg en route to the Porokhovskoye Cemetery. As per Rotunda’s assertion, the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs remained unaware of the funeral’s precise location. The ultimate lines of the poem supplement the intrigue, echoing assertions made by Russian authority Valery Solovey the previous day. He commented, “Prigozhin himself was not aboard. His doppelgänger had taken flight in his stead—Vladimir Putin is keenly cognizant of this fact. If you… place your faith in the official declarations of the Russian administration, then what more can I add…?”