Russians bade farewell to former Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov, who died on June 26 at the age of 85.
Primakov had been lying in state in the House of Unions for the past few days ahead of the June 29 memorial service at Moscow's Novodevichy Convent.
The mourning ceremony was attended by much of the Russian political elite, including President Vladimir Putin and delegations from the Defense Ministry and both houses of parliament.
State television covered the memorial, which was conducted by Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill.
Afterward, the casket covered by a Russian flag was carried in a funeral procession to the adjoining cemetery, with guards marching alongside the coffin and the country’s elites joining the mourners.
Russian President Vladimir Putin sent a condolence message that called Primakov "a figure on a grand scale and a person whose influence was recognized at home and abroad."
In addition to a stint as prime minister in 1998-99, Primakov also served as foreign minister and head of Russia's SVR foreign intelligence service.
