Russian Lower House Speaker to Lead Russian Delegation at Fidel Castro's Funeral

Russian lower house of parliament speaker Vyacheslav Volodin will lead the country's sizable delegation to attend Cuban leader Fidel Castro's funeral, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Monday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The death of the Cuban revolutionary leader and former president Fidel Castro was announced by incumbent Cuban President Raul Castro on Friday. A funeral ceremony has been scheduled for December 4, and will be held at a cemetery in Santiago de Cuba. Cuba has received many condolences from leaders around the world, including from Putin and outgoing US President Barack Obama.

"By instruction of the President, State Duma Speaker Volodin will head the Russian delegation at Fidel's funeral. He will travel to Cuba tonight," Peskov told reporters.

The spokesman added that Russian Foreign Ministry officials, lawmakers, as well as the co-chair of the Russian-Cuban intergovernmental committee, Dmtiry Rogozin, would make up Russia's delegation.

He explained that President Vladimir Putin's busy schedule prevented him from attending Castro's funeral in person.