One year after Prigozhin's death, the Kremlin is humiliated again – POLITICO

As the war escalates, the Russian propaganda machine is now using every opportunity to show that NATO – as Putin warned when launching his “special military operation” in February 2022 – wants to invade Russia. The invasion of Kursk is the ultimate proof of this.

The message is: the greater the threat, the more Russians should stand together. Anyone who does not do this, like Prigozhin, is a traitor.

Erased from memory

“Prigozhin made a significant contribution in the fight against Ukrainian nationalists,” Russian Senator Vladimir Dzhabarov said on Friday, according to the Russian news portal News.ru. “But in times of conflict, the leader of a mercenary group has no right to commit such an act,” he added.

However, most Russian media simply ignored the anniversary of Prigozhin's death, part of the Kremlin's general efforts to erase his name from public memory.

But some Russians apparently have not forgotten.

On Friday, many brought flowers and candles to his grave in St. Petersburg and to makeshift memorials across Russia.