Stringer/Reuters
Masked Wagner mercenaries have been paying tribute to their dead bosses at a makeshift shrine set up in the Russian city of Novosibirsk—and breaking down and sobbing uncontrollably.
Video of the memorial set up outside the Wagner Group’s recruitment center in the city shows members laying flowers on the ground in front of portraits of Yevgeny Prigozhin and Dmitry Utkin, the two top bosses believed to have been killed in a fiery plane crash Wednesday that may or may not have been an act of revenge by the Kremlin exactly two months after the group staged a violent uprising.
In the footage shot by the local outlet NGS News, one fighter in full military garb can be seen losing control at the memorial on Thursday morning, falling to his knees and audibly weeping while he hides his face behind a mask. Other mercenaries from the group have also reportedly broken down as they brought candles and flowers to pay tribute to Prigozhin and Utkin.