Other cemeteries in the Russian city had previously been mentioned in media reports as likely sites for the burial.

Wagner mercenary boss Yevgeny Prigozhin has been buried privately in a “farewell ceremony” in a St Petersburg cemetery, according to his press team.

Prigozhin was killed in a plane crash north of Moscow on 23 August, two months to the day since he led a failed mutiny against top Russian officials.

The aborted rebellion, where he had demanded the ousting of defence minister Sergei Shoigu, was the biggest challenge to President Putin‘s rule since he rose to power in 1999.