Ban on burial of Wagner Group mercenaries lifted in Goryachy Klyuch
Governor of Krasnodar Krai Veniamin Kondratyev met with the representative of Wagner Group on March 20. According to Yevgeny Prigozhin, Kondratyev promised that "there will be no obstacles for the burial of Wagner fighters in the future.” There was no official information about the meeting and its results.
Earlier, mayor of Goryachy Klyuch Sergey Belopolsky banned a mass burial of mercenaries in the resort town. In spite of the ban, seven troopers were buried in the town of Bakinskaya on March 19, and a representative of the company was allegedly summoned to the prosecutor's office in Goryachy Klyuch.
After the ban, there were threats at Sergey Belopolski from Wagner, and Yevgeny Prigozhin demanded to allow burials despite the mayor’s decision. He asked the General Prosecutor's Office to initiate criminal proceedings against Belopolsky for discrediting the military and for abuse of power.
According to TASS, 780 grave plots were allocated for Wagner at the cemetery in the town of Bakinskaya. To date, about 500 burials have been made.
This is not the first time Yevgeny Prigozhin has had a confrontation with regional officials over burial lots. In February, the businessman openly criticized the governor of the Sverdlovsk region, Yevgeny Kuyvashev, for his refusal to bury the mercenaries with honors. Kuyvashev advised the businessman to "cook meatballs and make pasta” [an allusion to his catering business]. Prigozhin responded by suggesting that the official should go to the trenches or "stick his tongue where he can control it.”