A new video circulating on social media has been geolocated CNN shows long rows of fresh graves in a cemetery in southern Russia in the Krasnodar region reserved for fighters of Wagner’s mercenary group.

Evgeny PrigozhinPhoto: Kommersant photo agency / ddp USA / Profimedia

In one of the videos, a woman can be heard saying that this is the cemetery where all the “Wagners” are buried, and claims that all the graves are dated to late 2022 and early 2023, although CNN could not independently confirm this.

The video shows dozens of long rows of graves – all with the same flowers – and is one of the images recently taken at a cemetery near the town of Hot Key. Now there are two cemeteries on the territory where Wagner’s soldiers are buried.

In addition, satellite images of the Baku Cemetery, another Wagner cemetery in the Krasnodar Territory, showed on November 24, 2022, only three rows of graves in the new plot. In another Maxar satellite image taken on January 24, the plot is already nearly full, with 14 additional rows.

The burial of the Wagnerites in this area caused a controversy on March 19, when the mayor of Goryachy Klyuch, Serhiy Bielopolsky, forbade the further burial of Wagner fighters. Then the governor of the Krasnodar region, Veniamin Kondratiev, lifted the ban after complaints from Wagner’s boss Yevgeny Prigozhin.

The mayor said there were too many Wagner soldiers buried there and it would be better if they were buried elsewhere. An outraged Prigozhin and his allies defied the mayor and held the ceremony, writes Radio Europa Liberă.

The dispute over the cemetery comes amid growing questions about the political future of Prigozhin, who became one of Russia’s most prominent public figures during the 13-month invasion of Ukraine.

A former convict who made his fortune opening restaurants in St. Petersburg, Prigozhin later won lucrative catering contracts with the Kremlin before founding the Wagner Group.

Despite the fact that “Wagner” suffered heavy losses, Prigozhin publicly criticized the Russian army for its combat actions.

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