THE mystery surrounding Yevgeny Prigozhin's death has been magnified after a puzzling poem was left on his headstone.
The rebel warlord, 62, was laid to rest in a "private ceremony" at the Porokhovskoye cemetery in St. Petersburg on Tuesday.
He was buried right next to his biological father Viktor in his hometown, but Vladimir Putin refused to pay his respects at the service.
It seemed Russia enacted a series of false trails at several graveyards to throw Wagner supporters off the scent.
The Kremlin appeared desperate to avoid a mass gathering over fears that Prigozhin's mercenaries and their legion of fans might seize an opportunity to make trouble.
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The intimate affair, attended by around 30 mourners, came a week after he was killed when his private jet was blown out of the sky
The Embraer Legacy 600 plane exploded in a fiery crash that killed all ten onboard, including his second in command Dmitry Utkin.
Prigozhin became the latest to join a staggering body count of at least 40 high-profile deaths linked to Putin since he launched his bloody war in Ukraine.
All eyes have now fallen on Moscow as the world waits for the Kremlin to cough up an explanation for how the failed coup leader met his grisly end.
Speculation surrounding his death has been rife, despite Prigozhin's death being officially confirmed by Russia's Investigative Committee.
Conspiracists have put forward barmy theories that Putin's former pal is in fact still alive and living in an "undisclosed country".
And a peculiar addition to Prigozhin's lavishly adorned grave has only fuelled rumours that he faked his death to avoid Russia's wrath.
Nestled among the rows of flowers and tributes on his headstone, a framed poem was propped up seemingly riddled with mysterious hints.
According to the Kremlin-endorsed media outlet Moskovskij Komsomolets, it reads: "How do I step on the threshold, not understanding, not deciding.
"Are you my son or God? That is, dead or alive?"
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The words are an excerpt from a poem penned by Soviet Union writer Joseph Brodsky, titled Still Life.
Although many have suggested it is merely a heartfelt tribute, others believe it is yet another indicator that Prigozhin did not pass away.
It was also pointed out that Brodsky's work was an interesting choice, due to the fact he regularly warred with Soviet leaders.
It comes after a haunting video resurfaced in the wake of Prigozhin's grisly end showing him chillingly predicting his own dramatic death.
The Wagner chief likened Russia under Vladimir Putin to an aircraft "on the brink of catastrophe" that could "fall apart in the sky".
Russian expert Valery Solovey boldly declared yesterday that the funeral may have been a sham - as he claimed "Prigozhin was not on board" the doomed jet.
He said: "His double was flying instead of him – Vladimir Putin is perfectly aware of that.
"His double was flying instead of him – Vladimir Putin is perfectly aware of that.
"If you place your faith in the official declarations of the Russian administration, then what more can I add?"
Despite the Kremlin declining to launch an international investigation into the crash, a spokesperson said Russia's probe took into account the possibility that it had been caused deliberately.
Moscow mouthpiece Dmitry Peskov said: "It is obvious that different versions are being considered, including the version - you know what we are talking about – let's say, a deliberate atrocity."
A preliminary U.S. intelligence assessment into the fireball concluded that an intentional explosion caused the plane to go down.
One of the officials, who could not be named, said the explosion was in line with Putin's "long history of trying to silence his critics".
Sources on Telegram said a consignment of "expensive wine" was loaded onboard the aircraft minutes before takeoff.
Another claim on social media was that explosives were concealed in the booze packaging.
Prigozhin's flight attendant Kristina Raspopova, 39, had revealed hours earlier to her relatives both a mysterious delay to the flight and unexplained repairs being made to the jet.
The exiled Wagner chief's private jet went up in flames just 31 miles from Putin's lavish palace at Valdai, northern Russia.
The President sent his condolences to Prigozhin's family, but pointed out he had made "serious mistakes" and had a " difficult fate".
Prigozhin had been thought to be living on borrowed time for weeks and was reported to have stayed in a hotel with no windows in neighbouring Belarus.
Among the other nine victims of the plane crash was Dmitry Utkin, a shadowy figure with Nazi tattoos seen as Prigozhin's deputy.
He managed Wagner's operations and allegedly had previously served in Russian military intelligence.
The incident came exactly two months after Prigozhin staged his rebellion, which spectacularly backfired and saw him exiled.
