Jump to content

Yevgeny Prigozhin

Page extended-protected
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Yevgeny Prigozhin
Евгений Пригожин
Prigozhin in 2023
Leader of the Wagner Group
In office
22 February 2014 – 23 August 2023
Military commanderDmitry Utkin
Preceded byPosition established
Succeeded byPavel Prigozhin[1]
Personal details
Born(1961-06-01)1 June 1961
Leningrad, Soviet Union
Died23 August 2023(2023-08-23) (aged 62)
Kuzhenkino, Tver Oblast, Russia
Cause of deathAirplane crash
Resting placePorokhovskoye Cemetery [ru]
SpouseLyubov Valentinovna Prigozhina
Children3, including Pavel
EducationLeningrad Chemical and Pharmaceutical Institute (dropped out)
Awards
NicknamePutin's chef
Military service
AllegianceRussia
CommandsWagner Group
Battles/wars
Business information
Organizations
Criminal information
Criminal statusWanted by the FBI for electoral interference
Criminal charge
Penalty
  • Suspended sentence (1979)
  • 12-year imprisonment (served 1981–1990)

Yevgeny Viktorovich Prigozhin[a][b] (1 June 1961 – 23 August 2023) was a Russian mercenary leader and oligarch.[5] He led the Wagner Group, a private military company, and was a close confidant of Russian president Vladimir Putin until launching a rebellion in June 2023.[6] Prigozhin was sometimes referred to as "Putin's chef" because he owned restaurants and catering businesses that provided services to the Kremlin.[7] Once a convict in the Soviet Union,[8] Prigozhin controlled a network of influential companies whose operations, according to a 2020 investigation, were "tightly integrated with Russia's Defence Ministry and its intelligence arm, the GRU".[9]

In 2014, Prigozhin reportedly founded the Wagner Group[10][11][12] to support Russian separatist forces in Ukraine. Funded by the Russian state, it played a significant role in Russia's invasion of Ukraine and supported Russian interests in Syria and in Africa. In November 2022, Prigozhin acknowledged his companies' interference in United States elections.[13] In February 2023, he confirmed that he was the founder and long-time manager of the Internet Research Agency, a Russian company running online propaganda and disinformation campaigns.

Prigozhin's companies and associates, and formerly Prigozhin himself, are subject to economic sanctions and criminal charges in the United States[14] and the United Kingdom.[15] In October 2020, the European Union (EU) imposed sanctions against Prigozhin for his financing of the Wagner Group's activities in Libya. In April 2022, the EU imposed further sanctions on him for his role in the Russian invasion of Ukraine.[16] The FBI offered a reward of up to $250,000 for information leading to Prigozhin's arrest.[17][18]

Prigozhin openly criticized the Russian Defense Ministry for corruption and mishandling the war against Ukraine. Eventually, he said the reasons they gave for invading were lies.[19] On 23 June 2023, he launched a rebellion against the Russian military leadership. Wagner forces captured Rostov-on-Don and advanced toward Moscow.[20] The rebellion was called off the following day, and the criminal charges against Prigozhin were dropped after he agreed to relocate his forces to Belarus.[21] On 23 August 2023, exactly two months after the rebellion,[22] Prigozhin was killed along with nine other people when a business jet crashed in Tver Oblast, north of Moscow.[23] The Wall Street Journal cited sources within the US government as saying that the crash was likely caused by a bomb on board or "some other form of sabotage".[24][25] Since then, researchers and other analysts have reached the conclusion that an on-board bomb or explosive likely downed the plane.[26][27][28][29]

Early life and education

Yevgeny Viktorovich Prigozhin was born an only child on 1 June 1961 in Leningrad, Soviet Union (now Saint Petersburg, Russia).[30][31][32] His mother, Violetta Kirovna Prigozhina, was a hospital nurse.[30][33] His father, Viktor Yevgenyevich Prigozhin, was a mining engineer who died when Yevgeny was nine.[33][34] His grandfather, Yevgeny Ilyich Prigozhin, was a captain in the Red Army during World War II, who fought in the Battles of Rzhev and received a medal "For Courage".[35][36] Prigozhin sponsored the 2020 war film Rzhev [ru], based on a 1991 novel by Vyacheslav Kondratyev [ru] that mentions his grandfather.[37]

His father and stepfather are believed to be of Jewish descent.[38] Prigozhin's great-uncle was Soviet scientist Yefim Ilyich Prigozhin [ru].[39] He settled with Yefim for several years during his childhood in the Ukrainian city of Zhovti Vody, where he worked in an open-pit uranium mine.[40][39]

His stepfather, Samuil Fridmanovich Zharkoi, was a ski instructor and introduced Prigozhin to cross-country skiing.[41][42] Aspiring to be a professional skier, he graduated from Leningrad Sports Boarding School No. 62 [ru] in 1977.[43][30] However, he abandoned his sports career after an injury.[44][33] He later worked as a fitness trainer at a children's sports school.[33]

Criminal history and imprisonment

In 1979, 18-year-old Prigozhin was caught stealing and was given a suspended sentence of two years and six months in prison. He served his sentence working at a chemical plant in Veliky Novgorod.[45][46]

In 1980, he returned to Leningrad and joined a gang.[33][45] He participated in a burglary spree in Leningrad, before being caught after choking a woman on the street during a robbery, with him and accomplices then stealing the woman's earrings and boots.[45][47] In 1981, he was sentenced to twelve years imprisonment in a high-security penal colony for robbery, theft, fraud, and involving minors in criminal activity.[47][43]

According to Prigozhin, he violated the terms of his solitary confinement "on a regular basis" until he was sent to general population in 1985, where he started to "read intensively" and worked as a lathe operator, tractor driver, and cabinet maker after receiving training at a vocational school.[33] In 1988, the Supreme Court of the Soviet Union reduced his sentence to ten years on good behavior, noting that he had begun "corrective behavior".[42][33] He was sent to a medium-security penal colony and was released in 1990.[42]

In total, Prigozhin spent nine years in detention.[8][32] Immediately after his release, he started attending the Leningrad Chemical and Pharmaceutical Institute to get a pharmaceutical degree, but failed to complete his studies.[48][34] Prigozhin would later flaunt his prison past to convince prisoners to join the Wagner Group.[49]

Early career and rise to prominence

Prigozhin (standing in background) hosted Russian President Putin and US President George W. Bush on his floating restaurant New Island in Saint Petersburg on 25 May 2002.

After his release from prison in 1990, Prigozhin began selling hot dogs alongside his mother and stepfather at the Apraksin Dvor open-air market in Leningrad.[43] Soon, according to a New York Times interview with him, "the rubles were piling up faster than his mother could count them".[50]

From 1991 to 1997, Prigozhin was heavily involved in the grocery store business. He became 15% stakeholder and manager of Contrast, which was the first grocery store chain in Saint Petersburg and founded by his former classmate Boris Spektor.[51]

Around the same time, Prigozhin became involved in the gambling business. Spektor and Igor Gorbenko brought Prigozhin on as CEO of Spectrum CJSC (Russian: ЗАО «Спектр»), which founded the first casinos in Saint Petersburg.[52][53] This trio went on to create many other businesses together throughout the 1990s across various industries, including construction, marketing research, and foreign trade. Novaya Gazeta notes that this may be when Prigozhin met Vladimir Putin for the first time, as Putin had been chairman of the supervisory board for casinos and gambling since 1991.[7][c]

In 1995, Prigozhin entered the restaurant business. When revenues of his other businesses began to fall, Prigozhin persuaded a director at Contrast, Kirill Ziminov, to open a restaurant with him. They opened Prigozhin's first restaurant: Old Customs House (Russian: Старая Таможня) in Saint Petersburg. In 1997, they founded a second restaurant, New Island, a floating restaurant that became one of the most fashionable dining spots in the city. Inspired by waterfront restaurants on the Seine in Paris, Prigozhin and Ziminov created the restaurant by spending US$400,000 to remodel a rusting boat on the Vyatka River.[43][50] He said his patrons "wanted to see something new in their lives and were tired of just eating cutlets with vodka".[50] Before Prigozhin decided to focus on upscale dining, one of his dining establishments initially featured a striptease show.[64][65] Prigozhin was reportedly known to punish poor performance or misconduct of employees of his catering businesses with physical violence.[66]

In 2001, Prigozhin personally served food to Vladimir Putin and French president Jacques Chirac when they dined at New Island. He hosted US president George W. Bush in 2002. In 2003, Putin celebrated his birthday at New Island.[50]

Touring the Concord Catering factory in 2010. Left to right: Presidential envoy to the Northwestern Federal District Ilya Klebanov, Chief Sanitary Inspector Gennady Onishchenko, Leningrad Oblast Governor Valery Serdyukov, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, Concord factory director Yevgeny Prigozhin.

Over the course of the 2000s, Prigozhin grew closer to Vladimir Putin. By 2003, he left his business partners and established his own independent restaurants. Notably, one of Prigozhin's companies, Concord Catering, began winning numerous government contracts. He received hundreds of millions in government contracts for feeding school children and government workers.[67][68] In 2012, he received a contract to supply meals to the Russian military worth US$1.2 billion over one year. Some of the profits from this contract are alleged to have been used to start and fund the Internet Research Agency.[69]

On 11 December 2018, a company claimed to be unaffiliated with Concord Catering called Msk LLC (Russian: ООО "Мск") was paid 2.5 million rubles for an annual "Heroes of the Fatherland Day" banquet held at the Kremlin. However, Msk LLC shares the same contact phone number with Concord. On 11 December 2019, the company received another 4.1 million rubles for another banquet.[70]

In 2012, he moved his family into a Saint Petersburg compound with a basketball court and a helicopter pad. By this point he owned a private jet and a 115-foot (35 m) yacht.[68] Prigozhin was later linked to several aircraft, including two Cessna 182s as well as Embraer Legacy 600, British Aerospace 125, and Hawker 800XP jets.[71]

The Anti-Corruption Foundation accused Prigozhin of corrupt business practices. In 2017, they estimated his illegal wealth to be worth more than one billion rubles.[72] Alexei Navalny alleged that Prigozhin was linked to a company called Moskovsky Shkolnik (Moscow Schoolboy) that had supplied poor-quality food to Moscow schools, which had caused a 2019 dysentery outbreak.[73][74] Prigozhin was declared the 2022 Corrupt Person of the Year by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project.[75]

Wagner Group

Main article: Wagner Group

The Wagner Group is a Russian state-funded[76] private military company (PMC) formed in 2014. It initially supported Russian separatist forces in Ukraine during the Donbas War, and later played a significant role in Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine. It has also supported regimes friendly with Putin's Russia in the Middle East and in Africa.

Prigozhin repeatedly denied links to the Wagner Group, but during the 2022 Russian invasion he travelled to Ukraine to oversee the group's progress and was pictured at the frontline wearing military fatigues alongside Russian Duma member Vitaly Milonov.[77] In September 2022 he said that he had founded Wagner in 2014 to "protect the Russians" when "the genocide of the Russian population of Donbas began".[11][10][12] He explained that he played a personal role from the start, claiming that he "found specialists who could help" after "[cleaning] the old weapons and [sorting out] the bulletproof vests" himself. Prigozhin also confirmed allegations, previously denied by the Russian government,[78] that the group had been involved in other countries aligned with Russian overseas interests, saying the Wagner mercenaries who "defended the Syrian people, other people of Arab countries, destitute Africans and Latin Americans, have become the pillars of our motherland".[10][12]

The Wagner Group was founded to support Russian interests in Africa and other parts of the world, allowing the Russian government to have plausible deniability for military operations abroad.[79][80] The plan was pushed forward by Valery Gerasimov, who took over as Chief of the General Staff in 2012. Prigozhin was chosen to run the company and he was tasked with operational and logistical aspect due to his pre-existing service relationship with the Defense Ministry (in 2012, he received a contract to supply meals to the Russian military worth US$1.2 billion over one year) and close ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Three different sources claim that initially Prigozhin objected to such a high-risk role, although he could not refuse it.[81][82]

Dmitry Utkin, a Russian military veteran, was also named as a founder and commander of Wagner. As Prigozhin had no military background, he reportedly relied on Utkin to oversee Wagner's military operations.[83] Utkin was once head of security for Prigozhin and was also listed as director general of Concord Management.[84]

Russian invasion of Ukraine

Bakhmut in April 2023. At the end of April, Prigozhin said that his forces were losing around 100 men a day.

Prigozhin rose to prominence during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. During the initial stages, the Russian Ground Forces suffered significant casualties, but the announcement of mobilization for reservists was delayed by Putin. As a result, authorities actively sought to enlist mercenaries for the invasion, which led to a heightened influence and power for Prigozhin and the Wagner Group. Prigozhin was allocated substantial resources, including his own aviation assets. Additionally, starting in the summer of 2022, he gained the authority to recruit inmates from Russian prisons into the Wagner Group in exchange for their freedom.[85] Western intelligence estimated that the number of Wagner mercenaries increased from "several thousand" fighters around 2017–2018 to approximately 50,000 fighters by December 2022, with the majority comprising criminal convicts recruited from prisons.[85]

On 13 November 2022, Wagner Group released a video depicting its mercenaries using a sledgehammer to execute Yevgeny Nuzhin, a deserter who had reportedly been returned to the Russians in a prisoner exchange.[86] Prigozhin commented, "It seems to me that this film should be called: 'a dog dies a dog's death'" and "It was an excellent directional piece of work, watched in one breath. I hope no animals were harmed during filming."[86]

On 4 May 2023, Prigozhin cautioned against the use of nuclear weapons in response to the 2023 Kremlin drone attack, saying that "We look like clowns threatening to use nuclear weapons in response to a child's drone".[87]

Conflict with Russian Ministry of Defense

Further information: Wagner Group–Russian Ministry of Defence conflict
Prigozhin was in a public feud with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu.

Although the government provided the Wagner Group with increasingly large resources, Wagner had no legal authority. Prigozhin held no official position and was neither appointed nor elected, meaning that he technically had no authority to answer to.[88] Furthermore, Prigozhin gained international recognition and abandoned his previously secluded personal life.[89] He frequently reported news from the frontline while wearing military fatigues. Wagner began to be perceived as Prigozhin's private army, operating beyond the boundaries of Russian legislation and the country's military hierarchy. Dissatisfaction arose within the Ministry of Defense (MoD) and the General Staff, leading to heavy squabbles between Wagner leadership and Russian high command.[88]

On 1 October 2022, during Ukraine's Kharkiv counteroffensive, which expelled Russia from most of the region, Prigozhin said about the commanders of the Russian army that "All these bastards ought to be sent to the front barefoot with just a submachine gun".[90] He called members of the Putin-controlled Russian parliament "useless" and said that the "deputies should go to the front", adding that "Those people who have been talking from tribunes for years need to start doing something".[91] The Washington Post reported that Prigozhin was one of the few people who dared to tell Putin about the "mistakes" of Russian military commanders in the war in Ukraine.[92]

One of the former Wagner fighters, in an interview with the BBC said: "I think it's a conflict between the Defense Ministry and Prigozhin. And it is escalating."[citation needed] Putin's press secretary Dmitry Peskov said that the conflict between Prigozhin and the Russian Ministry of Defense exists only in the information field.[citation needed]

In February 2023, the tensions began to escalate between Prigozhin and Russia's military establishment. This came against the background of the Russian winter offensive, with Russia's only success accomplished by Wagner forces at the cost of heavy losses.[93][94][95] In February 2023, Prigozhin began to complain about the "shell hunger" of Wagner during the battle for Bakhmut.[96] On 22 February, in another audio message, Prigozhin said, "The Wagner PMC kind of does not exist. We used to be given ammunition formally for some military units, which like to take Bakhmut instead of us". According to Prigozhin, "the Wagner PMC is walking around like a beggar, from the world by a thread, asking unit commanders to help in some way". Prigozhin then published a photo with the bodies of dead Wagner fighters, saying that, lack of ammunition meant that his squads were suffering heavy losses. He said: "We're just going to die twice as much until everyone runs out. And when all the Wagnerites run out, then most likely Shoigu and Gerasimov will have to take the machine guns". Prigozhin's media companies launched the #DayShellsToWagners media campaign, which was active that spring.[96]

Family members of Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu became an object of mockery by Yevgeny Prigozhin.[97] On 20 February 2023, in his address to the Ministry of Defense, Prigozhin said, "I am not poking you in the nose with the fact that you sit down to breakfast, lunch and dinner from gold dishes, and send your daughters, granddaughters and dogs on vacation in Dubai. Not embarrassed by anything. At a time when a Russian soldier is dying at the front. I'm just asking – give me ammunition!".[98] In May 2023, Prigozhin spoke out again about the Shoigu family: "Shoigu's son-in-law walks around shaking his buttocks, meaning his buttocks, and his daughter opens the Kronstadt forts. Did you earn money for these forts?! You spend your money on these forts? Spend it on fucking ammunition. And when the Minister of Defense shakes his little daughter and shakes some motherfucker who's a blogger, and also bends his fingers that he doesn't like the special operation... We didn't come up with this special operation, but we took a visor and said: "If we went to fuck with our neighbors, we should fuck all the way".[99] Prigozhin condemned the luxurious lifestyle of the children of Russia's top officials and in particular singled out Shoigu's son-in-law Alexey Stolyarov [ru] for not joining the Russian army. Prigozhin complained that "the children of the elites smother themselves with creams and show this on Instagram, YouTube and so on, while ordinary people's kids return home torn apart in zinc-lined coffins".[100]

Prigozhin intensified his rhetoric against the Ministry of Defence in April. In May 2023, he said: "We have been put on an artificial shortage of ammunition that is in storage. We were receiving no more than 30% of our needs. So our losses were much higher than they should have been, but we were getting ahead. A month ago they stopped giving us ammunition, and we're getting no more than 10%". On 5 May 2023, Prigozhin announced that, due to a lack of ammunition, his fighters would leave Bakhmut on 10 May 2023 and hand over their positions to units of the Russian Defense Ministry if they did not receive more ammunition.[101] Prigozhin published a video in which he shouted with a face distorted with anger against the bodies of the murdered Wagnerites: "Now listen to me, bitches, these are somebody's fathers and somebody's sons. And those scum who don't give ammunition, bitch, will eat their guts in hell. We have a 70% ammunition shortage. Shoigu, Gerasimov, where the fuck is the ammunition? Look at them, bitches".[102] Prigozhin said to the Russian military commanders: "You sit in expensive clubs, your children enjoy life, you make videos on YouTube. You think that you are the masters of this life, and that you have the right to dispose of their lives".[102]

On 6 May, Prigozhin, in his next address, revealed for the first time publicly that he was banned from recruiting mercenaries among inmates, although information about this appeared as early as February 2023. According to the head of Wagner, the Russian military command took such a step "to compensate for their failures, because of envy". According to Prigozhin, the Russian military department also stopped issuing awards to dead fighters of his PMCs, and did not allow Wagner to use special communications and transport aircraft.[96] Prigozhin accused the head of the Russian General Staff Valery Gerasimov of allegedly ordering him to give 10% of the required number of shells. Prigozhin said: "If there is no ammunition, then we will leave the position and ask the question – who is cheating on the motherland after all?".[96] In a video published shortly before the start of the Victory Parade in Moscow, he berated the Russian military command and added: "The happy grandpa thinks he's happy. But what is the country to do if suddenly it turns out that grandpa is a complete asshole?".[103][104] According to Meduza, the Kremlin negatively reacted to Prigozhin's words about "grandpa". "Of course, he can then say that this is about Shoigu or about an abstract layman, but people draw understandable conclusions".[105] Since the 2022 Russo-Ukrainian war, "Grandpa in his bunker" has become an insulting nickname for Vladimir Putin, implying incompetence and irrationality.

On 9 May, Prigozhin accused the regular Russian army forces of "[running] away" from their positions, while his own Wagner forces were allegedly forbidden from retreating. According to him, any Wagner "withdrawal from the positions would be considered high treason." He also accused the Ministry of Defense of only giving his troops 10% of what was promised, causing high Wagner casualties, and threatened that if he did not receive ammunition, his forces would withdraw from their positions. He said that the Ministry of Defense was more focused on internal power struggles and "intrigues" than actually fighting.[106] The Ukrainians themselves later supported this account, with their 3rd Separate Assault Brigade stating on Telegram that the 72nd Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade had "escaped" from the city and the remaining troops had suffered very high casualties.[107][108]

Prigozhin as a populist critic

Within a few months, Prigozhin underwent a metamorphosis, beginning to position himself as a "truth teller", ready to speak the unpleasant truth and to criticize the Russian leadership in the harshest terms. In addition to his rhetoric against the Ministry of Defense, Prigozhin also had a conflict with the leadership of the Chechen Republic, and personally with its Head, Ramzan Kadyrov.[109]

By June 2023, Prigozhin was aiming for the image of the "people's hero of the Special Military Operation". In May 2023, according to Russian opinion polls, the sociological service Russian Field noted that Prigozhin "is fighting not only on the external front, but also on the internal front, actively earning recognition and a rating. And he converts the former into the latter very well". According to Russian sociologists and political scientists, Prigozhin increased his visibility "through a combination of aggressive marketing and specific achievements," in particular the capture of Bakhmut, and since Bakhmut was the only major capture of the Russian army in many months, "the public could not ignore such an achievement".[citation needed]

By June 2023, Prigozhin had begun making regular statements that were not allowed for any other public figure in Russia. Journalists noted that many of his statements would have resulted in criminal charges against other people. This period witnessed a surge in his popularity among the Russian populace, particularly among nationalists. In a May survey conducted by the Levada Center, respondents were asked to identify the politicians they trusted the most, and for the first time, Prigozhin emerged as one of the top ten names on the list, marking a notable shift in his public perception from non-political to a political figure.[110]

The Dutch political scientist Cas Mudde described Prigozhin's "program" as a radical populist movement. The general principles of such a movement: a rigid division of society into "good people" and "bad elite", a demand (and promise) to save the nation, and authoritarian methods of implementing these slogans.[111][112]

Prigozhin has been described as being member of the "war party" within Russia's leadership, a group of hardliners in support of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, but critical of what they see as ineffective or incompetent prosecution of the war by the Russian government.[113]

June 2023 rebellion

Main article: Wagner Group rebellion

In mid-June 2023, the Ministry of Defence ordered Wagner to sign contracts with the military before 1 July. This move would've effectively integrated Wagner as a subordinate unit within the regular command structure, thereby diminishing the influence of Prigozhin. However, Prigozhin declined to sign the agreement, alleging incompetence on the part of Shoigu.[114][115][116] Reports from the independent Russian news outlet Meduza indicated that this development would undermine Prigozhin's hold over Wagner and jeopardize the group's profitable operations in Africa.[117] Prigozhin unsuccessfully attempted to circumvent the order for Wagner's subordination while intensifying his criticism of the Ministry of Defence.[118]

On 23 June 2023, Prigozhin claimed that regular Russian armed forces had launched missile strikes against Wagner forces, killing a "huge" number. He called for a response, stating: "The council of commanders of PMC Wagner has made a decision – the evil that the military leadership of the country brings must be stopped". Prigozhin declared the start of an armed conflict against the Ministry of Defence in a message posted on his press service's Telegram channel. He called upon individuals interested in joining the conflict against the Ministry, portraying the rebellion as a response to the alleged strike on his men.[119]

In a video released on 23 June 2023, Prigozhin claimed that the government's justifications for invading Ukraine were based on falsehoods, and that the invasion was designed to further the interests of the Ministry of Defence and Russian oligarchs.[120] He accused the Ministry of Defence of attempting to deceive the public and President Vladimir Putin by portraying Ukraine as an aggressive and hostile adversary which, in collaboration with NATO, was plotting an attack on Russian interests. Specifically, he denied that any Ukrainian escalation took place prior to 24 February 2022, which was one of the central points of Russian justification for the war.[121] Prigozhin alleged that Shoigu and the "oligarchic clan" had personal motives for initiating the war.[122] Furthermore, he asserted that the Russian military command intentionally concealed the true number of soldiers killed in Ukraine, with casualties reaching up to 1,000 on certain days.[123]

During the early morning of 24 June, Wagner forces crossed into Russia's Rostov Oblast from Luhansk, encountering no apparent opposition. In response, criminal charges were filed against Prigozhin by the Federal Security Service (FSB) for inciting an armed rebellion.[124] PMC Wagner proceeded to capture the Russian city of Rostov-on-Don, and began an advance on Moscow.[125] During the scuffle, Wagner shot down an Ilyushin Il-22M airborne command post plane and several military helicopters.[126]

A few moments later, Russian President Vladimir Putin addressed the nation, denouncing Wagner's actions as "treason" and vowing to take "harsh steps" to suppress the rebellion. He stated the situation threatened the existence of Russia itself.[123] Furthermore, Putin made an appeal to the Wagner forces who "by deceit or threats" had been "dragged" into participating in the rebellion.[127]

In response, Prigozhin said that Russia's president is "mistaken", and Wagner fighters are "patriots, not traitors, we have been fighting for our country and continue to fight". Prigozhin said the situation on the Ukrainian frontline was not affected. He also stated that his main goal was to remove Shoigu and Gerasimov from office[128] and reiterated his accusations of corruption against the Ministry of Defence.[129] Despite declaring that the justifications used to launch war against Ukraine were based on falsehoods, Prigozhin still continued to support the war efforts, although calling for waging war more effectively.

Prigozhin allegedly made personal efforts to establish contact with the presidential administration on the afternoon of 24 June 2023, including reaching out to Putin himself, who refused to speak with him. Final negotiations were reportedly conducted by Anton Vaino, the chief of staff, Nikolai Patrushev, the secretary of the Security Council, and Boris Gryzlov, the Russian ambassador to Belarus.[130] Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko reportedly spoke with Prigozhin upon Putin's request,[131] acting as a mediator to broker a settlement. Charges were dropped and Wagner ceased its march on Moscow.[125] As part of the agreement, Prigozhin moved to Belarus and Wagner troops were slated to return to Ukraine, but those plans were cancelled in the wake of Wagner's refusal to sign military contracts.[132][133][134][135] Despite his charges being dropped, Prigozhin remained under investigation for treason.[136]

The BBC tracked Prigozhin's private jet flying from Belarus to Russia in late June. The jet made several flights between Saint Petersburg and Moscow, but whether Prigozhin was on board was unknown. On 6 July, Lukashenko stated: "As for Prigozhin, he's in St Petersburg. He is not on the territory of Belarus."[137]

Putin's right-hand man Nikolai Patrushev (left) is believed to have orchestrated the assassination of Prigozhin in August 2023

In July 2023, Prigozhin told his fighters to prepare for "a new journey to Africa".[138]

On 28 July 2023, a confirmed sighting of Prigozhin in the aftermath of the failed mutiny emerged, showing him meeting with Freddy Mapouka, a presidential advisor in the Central African Republic, and the head of the Cameroonian pro-Russian media outlet Afrique Média, at the Trezzini Palace hotel in Saint Petersburg during the 2023 Russia–Africa Summit.[139][140] Prigozhin told Afrique Média that Wagner Group was ready to increase its presence in Africa.[141]

Africa interests

Throughout 2018, Prigozhin established numerous interests in Africa via the Wagner Group and approximately 100–200 political consultants. He became involved in such countries as Madagascar, the Central Africa Republic (CAR), the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Angola, Senegal, Rwanda, Sudan, Libya, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Cameroon, Côte d'Ivoire, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Chad, South Sudan, and South Africa.[142][143][144][145][146][147][148] Pyotr Bychkov (Russian: Петр Александрович Бычков) is allegedly responsible for coordinating Prigozhin's "Africa expansion".[149][150][d] According to a 20 April 2018 Kommersant article, Yaroslav Ignatovsky (Russian: Ярослав Ринатович Игнатовский; born 1983, Leningrad) heads Politgen (Russian: "Политген") and is a political strategist that has coordinated the trolls' efforts for Prigozhin in Africa.[152][153][154][155]

In March 2020, it was revealed that Prigozhin had financially assisted Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, son of the late overthrown Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, in his bid for the next Libyan presidential election.[156]

Prigozhin expressed his support for the 2023 Nigerien coup d'état, writing on Telegram "What happened in Niger is nothing other than the struggle of the people of Niger with their colonizers ... who are trying to foist their rules of life on them and their conditions and keep them in the state that Africa was in hundreds of years ago[157] ... It effectively means winning independence. The rest will depend on the people of Niger, on how efficient they could govern."[158]

Since early 2018, the Prigozhin-associated company Lobaye Invest has mined diamonds, gold,[e] and other minerals in the prefecture of Lobaye of the Central African Republic.[160][161][f] Lobaye Invest is a subsidiary of M-Finance which was founded by Prigozhin.[148][161][163][164]

Internet Research Agency

Main article: Internet Research Agency
Yevgeny Viktorovich Prigozhin on the Internet Research Agency, United States indictment

Prigozhin financed and directed[165][166] a network of companies including a company called the Internet Research Agency Ltd. (Russian: ООО «Агентство интернет-исследований»),[167] Concord Management and Consulting Company and one other related company.[5] The three companies are accused of Internet trolling and attempting to influence the 2016 United States presidential election and other activity to influence political events outside Russia.

Russian journalist Andrey Soshnikov reported that Alexey Soskovets, who had participated in Russian youth political community, was directly connected to the offices of Internet Research in Olgino. His company, North-Western Service Agency, won 17 or 18 (according to different sources) contracts for organizing celebrations, forums and sport competitions for authorities of Saint Petersburg. The agency was the only participant in half of those bids. In the summer of 2013, the agency won a tender for providing freight services for participants of a Seliger camp.[168]

In February 2023, Prigozhin stated that he founded the IRA: "I've never just been the financier of the Internet Research Agency. I invented it, I created it, I managed it for a long time."[166] The admission came months after Prigozhin had admitted to Russian interference in US elections.[166]

Spin-offs

Campaigns against opposition in 2013 involved Dmitry Bykov and the then head of RIA Novosti, Svetlana Mironyuk, while a homepage claiming to fight fake news (Gazeta O Gazetah) was used to spread fake news.[169]

International sanctions

See also: International sanctions during the Russo-Ukrainian War
"Yevgeny Prigozhin's expanding network" per US Treasury Department (2021)

In December 2016, the US Treasury Department designated Prigozhin pursuant to E.O.13661 for sanctions for providing support to senior officials of the Russian Federation.[170][171][172]

In June 2017, US sanctions were imposed on one of Prigozhin's companies, Concord Management and Consulting, in connection with the war in Eastern Ukraine.[84][173][174]

In January 2018, the US Treasury Department also designated Evro Polis Ltd for sanctions. Evro Polis is a Russian company that has contracted with the Government of Syria to protect Syrian oil fields in exchange for a 25 percent share in oil and gas production from the fields. The company was designated for being owned or controlled by Prigozhin. The sanctions require that any property or interests in property of the designated persons in the possession or control of US persons or within the United States must be blocked. Additionally, transactions by US persons involving these persons (including companies) are generally prohibited.[175][176]

In September 2019, three more Prigozhin companies (Autolex Transport, Beratex Group and Linburg Industries) were sanctioned in connection with the Russian interference in the 2016 United States election.[177][g]

In February 2022, the Internet Research Agency was added to the European Union sanctions list for running disinformation campaigns to manipulate public opinion and "actively supporting actions which undermine and threaten the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine".[181]

According to the United States, Prigozhin's activities of interfering in elections and subverting public opinion are extended to Asian and African countries.[182]

Prigozhin is also subject to sanctions imposed by Australia, the European Union, Canada, Japan, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. The FBI offered a reward of up to $250,000 for information leading to Prigozhin's arrest.[17][18]

In response to sanctions issued by New Zealand against 51 oligarchs and 24 Kremlin-backed officials (including Prigozhin's own children), Prigozhin went on a racist rant against Māori people in October 2022. He called Foreign Affairs minister Nanaia Mahuta a "petuh" (Russian: петух, a Russian-language derogatory term for a gay man, literally translating as "cock"), referred to her as a man, and said that her moko kauae tattoo made her and Māori women look like "criminals". A spokesperson for Mahuta dismissed the comments as "petty vitriol".[183]

U.S. criminal charges

Main article: Mueller special counsel investigation
Wikisource has original text related to this article:

On 16 February 2018, Prigozhin, the Internet Research Agency, Concord Management, another related company, and other connected Russian individuals were indicted by a US grand jury. Prigozhin was charged with funding and organizing operations for the purpose of interference with the US political and electoral processes, including the 2016 presidential election, and other crimes including identity theft.[184] Charges against Concord Management were dismissed with prejudice on 16 March 2020.[185][186]

In February 2021, Prigozhin was added to the wanted list of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).[187][188]

In February 2022, the United States imposed visa restrictions and froze assets of Prigozhin and his family, due to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.[189][190]

In July 2022, the U.S. State Department offered a reward of up to $10 million for information about Prigozhin, the Internet Research Agency, and other entities involved in 2016 U.S. election interference.[191]

On 7 November 2022, Prigozhin said he had interfered in U.S. elections and would continue to interfere in the future.[192]

Financial support for Maria Butina in 2019

In May 2019, Maria Butina (who had earlier pled guilty to acting in the United States as an unregistered agent of a foreign government; specifically the Russian Federation) appealed for help in paying her lawyer fees.[193][h] In February 2019 Valery Butin, Butina's father, told Izvestia that she owed her U.S. attorneys 40 million rubles ($US 659,000).[195][196] Through Prigozhin's Fund for the Protection of National Values, which is managed by Petr Bychkov, 5 million rubles were donated to Butina's defence lawyer costs.[149]

Personal life

Prigozhin was married to Lyubov Valentinovna Prigozhina,[197] a pharmacist and businesswoman. She owns a network of boutique stores known as the Chocolate Museum («Музей шоколада») in Saint Petersburg. In 2012, she started the Crystal Spa & Lounge, a day spa located along Zhukovsky Street in Saint Petersburg, which won a third place award in 2013 for the Perfect Urban Day Spa.[197][198] She owns a wellness center in the Leningrad Oblast and a boutique hotel called the Crystal Spa & Residence which won the Perfect Spa Project award in 2013.[197][198] She owns the New Technologies SPA LLC (ООО «Новые технологии СПА») which is located at plot 1, Granichnaya street in Lakhta Park, Sestroretsk, Kurortny District, Saint Petersburg.[i][200][201] She is also the owner of Agat, part of the Concord group (Russian: Агат).[202]

The couple had two daughters: Polina (Полина), born 1992 and Veronika (Вероника), born 2005, and a son Pavel (Павел), born in either 1996 or 1998.[203][118][179][204] In 2004, Prigozhin published a children's picture book, with his children listed as co-authors (the book was never put on sale – Prigozhin handed out the book to friends and associates as a gift).[205] Until the invasion of Ukraine, Prigozhin's children were able to move freely across the European Union. On 20 February 2022, Prigozhin's daughter Veronika took part in equestrian competitions in Spain.[206]

Prigozhin's mother, Violetta Prigozhina,[207] is a former doctor and educator, and the current legal owner of Concord Management and Consulting LLC (ООО "Конкорд менеджмент и консалтинг") since 2011, Etalon LLC (ООО "Эталон") since 2010, and Credo LLC (ООО "Кредо") since 2011.[208]

All above family members were sanctioned by the European Union, the United States, Ukraine, and many other countries due to Prigozhin's involvement in Russia's invasion of Ukraine.[203][118][179][209][182][210][211][212][excessive citations]

Death

Main article: 2023 Wagner Group plane crash
Aircraft involved in the crash in which Prigozhin died

According to Russia's emergency ministry, Prigozhin died in an airplane crash on 23 August 2023.[213][214] The airplane was en route from Moscow to Saint Petersburg when it crashed, killing all 10 people on board.[215] Russian state-owned media agency TASS reported that Prigozhin had been on the passenger list of the flight.[216] The passengers' deaths were officially confirmed by the Investigative Committee of Russia on 27 August, following genetic analysis of the remains recovered from the wreckage.[217]

A Wagner-associated Telegram channel claimed the jet was shot down by Russian air defenses over Tver Oblast.[218] This assertion was contested due to the lack of visible missile trails in the released footage.[219] According to U.S. and other Western officials, "preliminary intelligence reports led them to believe that an explosion on board likely brought down the aircraft in Russia, killing all the passengers aboard."[24]

Makeshift memorial to Yevgeny Prigozhin and Dmitry Utkin in Moscow

Makeshift memorials for Prigozhin and Utkin were made in several cities with candles, flowers, and Wagner flags.[220] A video of a Wagner soldier crying in front of a memorial went viral.[221]

On 29 August, Prigozhin was buried in a private ceremony at Porokhovskoe Cemetery in Saint Petersburg, beside his father.[222]

On 6 September, Ukrainian Main Directorate of Intelligence reported that it had not been able to confirm with certainty the death of Yevgeny Prigozhin.[223] On 10 September, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed Prigozhin's death and cited Putin breaking the agreement with Prigozhin as a reason for refusing to enter negotiations with Russia under Putin.[224]

On 22 December 2023, The Wall Street Journal cited sources within the Western and Russian intelligence agencies as saying that the Wagner Group plane crash was orchestrated by Putin's right-hand man Nikolai Patrushev. The paper alleged that Patrushev presented to Putin a plan to assassinate Prigozhin in August 2023, which led to intelligence officials inserting a bomb under the wing of Prigozhin's plane during pre-departure safety checks.[225]

Awards

Prigozhin received a number of Russian awards, particularly the title of Hero of the Russian Federation in 2022.[226][227][228] He also received Sudan's Order of the Republic in 2018[229] and Order of the Two Niles in 2020.[230]

Memorials

In April 2024, a monument depicting Prigozhin and Wagner co-founder Dmitry Utkin was unveiled outside the Wagner Group's chapel in Goryachy Klyuch, Krasnodar Krai, which also contains the largest cemetery for Wagner mercenaries. The municipal government said that the monument was built on private property and did not require authorization from their side.[231]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ In this name that follows Eastern Slavic naming customs, the patronymic is Viktorovich and the family name is Prigozhin. Alternatively Yevgeniy Vicktorovich Prigozhin.
  2. ^ Russian: Евгений Викторович Пригожин, IPA: [jɪvˈɡʲenʲɪj ˈvʲiktərəvʲɪtɕ prʲɪˈɡoʐɨn]
  3. ^ Beginning in 1991, Vladimir Putin was Saint Petersburg's chairman of the supervisory board for casinos and gambling (Russian: Председатель наблюдательного совета по казино и азартным играм) and, in 1993, began issuing gambling licenses in which shares were gained by the city of Saint Petersburg in the company 'Neva Chance (Russian: Нева-Шанс) which owned the first Saint Petersburg casino AOZT Casino (Russian: АОЗТ «Казино») because it had the same address and phone numbers as city hall, but later it became JV Casino Neva (Russian: СП «Казино Нева») and opened on 19 August 1991.[52][54][55][56][57] In 1992 or 1993 it changed its name to Laguna, then in 1997 to Admiral Club or more simply known as Admiral.[56] According to the Yakuza Kinichi Kamiyasu[58] who supplied slot machines with cash prizes to St Petersburg casinos in the 1990s from his Stockholm, Sweden, company Dyna Computer Service AB which was a subsidiary of the Masimichi Iida (the brother of Chef Kinichi from Osaka, Iida Misamichi) owned Osaka firm, Dyna Company Ltd.,[59] the criminals Gennady Petrov (Russian: Геннадий Петров),[60] Alexander Malyshev (Russian: Александр Малышев),[61] and Sergey Kuzmin (Russian: Сергей Кузьмин) operated the casino through a Vladimir Putin issued license to establish JV Petrodin (Russian: СП «Петродин») in 1991.[56] JV Petrodin, which Kamiyasu owned a 35% stake and Gennady Petrov and Sergey Kuzmin owned a 65% stake through their company BXM (Russian: «БХМ»), used the money from the casinos to provide capital for Bank Rossiya.[56][57][62][63]
  4. ^ In March 2014, political consultants in Russia formed the Russian Association of Political Contants RAPK (Russian: Российская Ассоциация Политических Консультантов РАПК) which is the first professional association of independent experts in political technology and consulting. It was formed to counter political election fraud and disinformation which occurred during Maidan.[151]
  5. ^ Purportedly at the Ndassima field in eastern CAR, too.[159]
  6. ^ Lobaye Invest has several areas for development during a period of three years: Java (385 square km) for gold and possibly diamonds by decree on 2 June 2018 located about 100 km west of Bangui and is not under government control, Pama (3,712 square km) for diamonds, gold, and other elements by resolution on 25 July 2018 located about 12 km west of Bangui and is under the control of Russian contractors, a site (1 square km) for development by decree on 11 March 2019 located at Boda, and four sites (four 1 square km each) for diamonds and gold by decree 4 April 2018 published March 2019 located in the cities and districts of Bangasu, Ouadda, Bria and Sam Wanja.[161][162]
  7. ^ As of 15 August 2019, the director of LinBurg Industries is a Latvian Ivo Jutis (Russian: Иво Жутис)[178][179] Two of Prigozhin planes are a Raytheon Hawker 800XP with tail numbers M-VITO, which is owned since 2012 by a Seychelles shell company Beratex Group Limited, and VP-CSP, which registered with the Cayman Islands Civil Aviation Authority and owned since 2017 by a Seychelles shell company called LinBurg Industries.[178][179][180]
  8. ^ She had not been receiving any funds for her defence lawyers fees from Igor Levitin through Konstantin Nikolaev.[194]
  9. ^ This plot was formerly owned by Concord but was granted to Lyubov Prigozhina by the city of Saint Petersburg.[199]

References

  1. ^ Nanu, Maighna (2 October 2023). "Yevgeny Prigozhin's son 'takes over command of Wagner'". The Telegraph. Retrieved 15 October 2023.
  2. ^ Myre, Greg (30 January 2019). "'Putin's Chef' Has His Fingers In Many Pies, Critics Say". NPR. Archived from the original on 4 February 2021. Retrieved 26 February 2021.
  3. ^ Maglov, Mikhail; Olevsky, Timur; Treshchanin, Dmitry (27 February 2019). "Investigation Charts Massive Haul For State Deals By Companies Linked To 'Putin's Chef'". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Archived from the original on 29 March 2021. Retrieved 26 February 2021.
  4. ^ Eltagouri, Marwa (17 February 2018). "The rise of 'Putin's chef,' the Russian oligarch accused of manipulating the U.S. election". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Archived from the original on 27 February 2021. Retrieved 26 February 2021.
  5. ^ a b Lister, Tim; Ilyushina, Mary; Shukla, Sebastian (18 February 2018). "The oil field carnage that Moscow doesn't want to talk about". CNN. Archived from the original on 18 February 2018. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
  6. ^ "Navalny asks FSB to investigate Putin's cook". Crime Russia. Archived from the original on 1 March 2019. Retrieved 16 February 2018.
  7. ^ a b "Thousands of Russian private contractors fighting in Syria". AP News. Archived from the original on 29 December 2021. Retrieved 12 December 2017.
  8. ^ a b "Право на забвение Евгения Пригожина: Что хочет скрыть о себе ресторатор, обслуживавший президентов России – Meduza". Meduza (in Russian). Archived from the original on 29 December 2021. Retrieved 25 October 2017.
  9. ^ Bellingcat Investigation Team (14 August 2020). "Putin Chef's Kisses of Death: Russia's Shadow Army's State-Run Structure Exposed". Bellingcat. Archived from the original on 14 August 2020. Retrieved 23 August 2020.
  10. ^ a b c "Sanctioned Putin Ally Says He Created Russian Mercenary Group". Bloomberg. 26 September 2022. Archived from the original on 27 September 2022. Retrieved 26 September 2022.
  11. ^ a b "Russian oligarch Yevgeny Prigozhin admits he created the mercenary Wagner Group". Politico. 26 September 2022. Archived from the original on 26 September 2022. Retrieved 26 September 2022.
  12. ^ a b c "Putin's 'chef' Prigozhin admits creating Wagner mercenary outfit in 2014". CNN. 26 September 2022. Archived from the original on 16 January 2023. Retrieved 26 September 2022.
  13. ^ "Russia's Prigozhin admits interfering in U.S. Elections". Reuters. 7 November 2022. Archived from the original on 17 November 2022. Retrieved 17 November 2022.
  14. ^ William Echols (4 October 2019). "New Sanctions Against 'Putin's Chef' Prompt Latest Russian Election Meddling Denial". Polygraph.info. Archived from the original on 5 October 2019. Retrieved 5 October 2019.
  15. ^ Fitzpatrick, Jim (7 February 2023). "MPs grill minister over decision to let warlord sue reporter". openDemocracy. Archived from the original on 8 February 2023. Retrieved 9 February 2023.
  16. ^ "Switzerland Imposed Sanctions on Wagner Group". European Pravda. Archived from the original on 27 April 2023. Retrieved 24 June 2023.
  17. ^ a b "Yevgeniy Vicktorovich Prigozhin – Federal Bureau of Investigation". Federal Bureau of Investigation. 9 July 2021. Archived from the original on 16 January 2023. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
  18. ^ a b "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original on 27 November 2022. Retrieved 16 January 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  19. ^ "Wagner chief accuses Moscow of lying to public about Ukraine". The Guardian. 23 June 2023. Archived from the original on 23 June 2023. Retrieved 24 August 2023.
  20. ^ Trofimov, Yaroslav (23 June 2023). "Russia Issues Arrest Warrant for Wagner Chief on Charges of Mutiny". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Archived from the original on 23 June 2023. Retrieved 24 June 2023.
  21. ^ Chernova, Anna (24 June 2023). "Case against Prigozhin will be dropped and he will be sent to Belarus, Kremlin spokesperson says". CNN. Archived from the original on 30 June 2023. Retrieved 24 June 2023.
  22. ^ Russell, Graham (24 August 2023). "Biden points finger at Putin as Prigozhin's reported death seen as a warning to 'elites'". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 24 August 2023. Retrieved 24 August 2023.
  23. ^ Gardner, Frank; Greenall, Robert; Lukiv, Jaroslav (23 August 2023). "Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin presumed dead after Russia plane crash". BBC News. Archived from the original on 23 August 2023. Retrieved 23 August 2023.
  24. ^ a b Troianovski, Anton; Barnes, Julian E; Schmitt, Eric (24 August 2023). "'It's Likely Prigozhin Was Killed,' Pentagon Says". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 27 August 2023. Retrieved 27 August 2023.
  25. ^ Court, Elsa (24 August 2023). "WSJ: US officials do not believe air defense shot down Prigozhin plane". The Kyiv Independent. Archived from the original on 25 August 2023. Retrieved 24 August 2023.
  26. ^ Haworth, Jon; Martinez, Luis; Chile, Patricio; Winsor, Morgan; Margolin, Josh (25 August 2023). "Bomb likely the cause of explosion that downed Wagner leader Prigozhin's plane, US officials say". ABC News. Retrieved 8 September 2023.
  27. ^ Barnes, Julian E.; Cooper, Helene; Schmitt, Eric; Mellen, Riley; Xiao, Muyi; Stein, Robin (24 August 2023). "Blast Likely Downed Jet and Killed Prigozhin, U.S. Officials Say". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 8 September 2023.
  28. ^ "US intelligence says an intentional explosion brought down Wagner chief Prigozhin's plane". AP News. 24 August 2023. Retrieved 8 September 2023.
  29. ^ Mackintosh, Eliza; Mezzofiore, Gianluca; Brown, Benjamin; Polglase, Katie; Pettersson, Henrik (25 August 2023). "Explosion likely brought down aircraft purportedly carrying Wagner boss, flight data and video analysis suggest". CNN. Retrieved 8 September 2023.
  30. ^ a b c "Пригожин Евгений Викторович биография". РБК (in Russian). Archived from the original on 7 October 2021. Retrieved 29 June 2023.
  31. ^ "Кто такой Евгений Пригожин". Fontanka.ru (in Russian). 24 June 2023. Archived from the original on 30 June 2023. Retrieved 29 June 2023.
  32. ^ a b Keilbach, Miriam (26 June 2023). "Jewgeni Prigoschin: Ehefrau, Kinder, Werdegang – Wer ist der Wagner-Anführer?". RND (in German). Archived from the original on 30 June 2023. Retrieved 30 June 2023.
  33. ^ a b c d e f g Speri, Alice (2 March 2023). "Hacked Private Documents Shed New Light on Unlikely Rise of 'Putin's Chef' From the Shadows of the Kremlin". The Intercept. Archived from the original on 24 June 2023. Retrieved 29 June 2023.
  34. ^ a b Young, Cathy (5 June 2023). "The Rise of the Troll King: How Yevgeny Prigozhin Came to Power". Bulwark+. Archived from the original on 30 June 2023. Retrieved 29 June 2023.
  35. ^ "Художники создали несколько граффити с изображением Ржевского мемориала". ИА REX (in Russian). Archived from the original on 30 June 2023. Retrieved 29 June 2023.
  36. ^ ""Сашка". Вячеслав Кондратьев отразил в повестях характер советского солдата". AiF (in Russian). 30 October 2018. Archived from the original on 30 June 2023. Retrieved 29 June 2023.
  37. ^ "Вклад в сохранение памяти: фильм "Ржев" Евгения Пригожина и молодежные проекты помогают увековечивать имена героических предков". FederalCity.ru (in Russian). 7 September 2022. Archived from the original on 30 June 2023. Retrieved 29 June 2023.
  38. ^ "Yevgeny Prigozhin, caterer turned warlord presumed dead had Jewish ancestry". Jewish Chronicle. 24 August 2023. Retrieved 6 September 2023.
  39. ^ a b Приходько, Александр (25 October 2022). ""Жил в Желтых Водах": Пригожин рассказал о детстве на Украине". Правда.Ру (in Russian). Archived from the original on 30 June 2023. Retrieved 29 June 2023.
  40. ^ "Бизнесмен Пригожин подтвердил родство с учёным Ефимом Пригожиным, который занимался урановыми разработками на Украине". DNI. Archived from the original on 7 November 2022. Retrieved 27 October 2022.
  41. ^ "Евгений Пригожин биография. Биография Евгений Пригожин. Личная жизнь Евгений Пригожин. – Свободная Пресса". svpressa.ru (in Russian). Archived from the original on 26 June 2023. Retrieved 30 June 2023.
  42. ^ a b c "Илья Жегулев Автор (no date) Расследование: как личный кулинар Путина накормит армию за 92 млрд рублей". Forbes.ru. Archived from the original on 31 July 2020. Retrieved 15 November 2022.
  43. ^ a b c d Zhegulev, Ilya (13 June 2016). "Evgeny Prigozhin's right to be forgotten: What does Vladimir Putin's favorite chef want to hide from the Internet?". Meduza. Translated by Kevin Rothrock. Moscow. Archived from the original on 17 February 2018. Retrieved 16 February 2018.
  44. ^ Гусев, Евгений (4 February 2017). ""Большое меню" любимого повара Путина". Радио Свобода (in Russian). Archived from the original on 30 June 2023. Retrieved 30 June 2023.
  45. ^ a b c Davlyatchin, Ilya (21 September 2018). "Бурная молодость "кремлевского ресторатора"". Росбалт (in Russian). Archived from the original on 9 August 2023. Retrieved 30 June 2023.
  46. ^ Yushko, Lazar (13 June 2023). "Биография Евгения Пригожина: от продавца хот‑догов до хозяина ЧВК "Вагнер" и взятия Бахмута". РИАМО. Archived from the original on 17 June 2023. Retrieved 30 June 2023.
  47. ^ a b Breazeale, Sam (29 June 2021). "Prigozhin's criminal past, straight from the source". Meduza. Archived from the original on 10 February 2022. Retrieved 10 February 2022.
  48. ^ "Ресторатор и его ученики: кто поставляет 90% обедов в московские школы". РБК (in Russian). 18 July 2016. Archived from the original on 11 October 2020. Retrieved 30 June 2023.
  49. ^ ""Конечно, он пахан": бывшие заключенные оценили уголовные повадки Пригожина". Moskovskij Komsomolets (in Russian). 27 June 2023. Archived from the original on 30 June 2023. Retrieved 30 June 2023.
  50. ^ a b c d MacFarquhar, Neil (16 February 2018). "Meet Yevgeny Prigozhin, the Russian Oligarch Indicted in U.S. Election Interference". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 16 February 2018. Retrieved 16 February 2018.
  51. ^ Barshad, Amos (18 August 2022). "Yevgeny Prigozhin, the Man Known as 'Putin's Chef,' Explained". Eater. Archived from the original on 29 August 2023. Retrieved 29 August 2023.
  52. ^ a b "Пригожин Евгений Викторович" [Prigozhin Evgeny Viktorovich]. Zampolit (in Russian). Archived from the original on 21 September 2020. Retrieved 8 January 2020.
  53. ^ Охотин (Okhotin), Николай (Nikolay) (10 October 2010). "Опригоживание Трезини" [Trezzini Nailing]. NevaVersia (in Russian). Archived from the original on 1 May 2021. Retrieved 8 January 2020.
  54. ^ "Расследования. Кто такой Пригожин: Игорный бизнес, питерская дружба, ресторан в Доме правительства" [Investigations. Who is Prigogine: Gambling, Petersburg friendship, restaurant in the Government House]. Novaya Gazeta (in Russian). 1 September 2011. Archived from the original on 30 October 2018. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
  55. ^ Петлянова (Petlyanova), Нина (Nina) (14 October 2011). "Рецепт успеха личного повара Путина. Почему ресторатору Евгению Пригожину разрешили кормить нас блюдами, которые не портятся 21 день" [Plots. The recipe for success for Putin's personal chef: Why restaurateur Evgeny Prigozhin was allowed to feed us dishes that do not spoil for 21 days]. Novaya Gazeta (in Russian). Archived from the original on 15 April 2019. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
  56. ^ a b c d Иванидзе, Владимир (Ivanidze, Vladimir) (8 February 2012). "Сюжеты. Кому Нева дала шанс: Игорный бизнес в Санкт-Петербурге начинали российские ОПГ и японские якудза. Под контролем мэрии. Уникальное свидетельство непосредственного участника событий" [Plots. To whom Neva gave a chance: Gambling business in St. Petersburg was started by Russian organized crime groups and Japanese yakuza. Under the control of the city hall. Unique evidence of a direct participant in the events]. Novaya Gazeta (in Russian). Archived from the original on 8 April 2018. Retrieved 14 January 2020.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  57. ^ a b Кириленко (Kirilenko), Анастасия (Anastasia) (21 April 2016). "Путин глазами якудзы. Японский мафиози рассказал о своем бизнесе в Петербурге" [Putin through the eyes of the Yakuza. Japanese mafiosi spoke about his business in St. Petersburg]. The Insider (in Russian). Archived from the original on 23 April 2016. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
  58. ^ Артемов, Денис (Artyomov, Denis) (28 July 2016). "Почетные гости Александра Малышева – Якудза" [Honored guests of Alexander Malyshev – Yakuza]. mzk1.ru (in Russian). Archived from the original on 17 November 2019. Retrieved 16 January 2020.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  59. ^ "株式会社ダイナ" [Dyna Corporation]. baseconnect.in (in Japanese). Osaka. Archived from the original on 17 July 2022. Retrieved 16 January 2020.
  60. ^ "Геннадий Петров Лидер малышевской ОПГ" [Gennady Petrov Leader of the Malyshevskaya organized crime group]. rusmafiozi (in Russian). 13 March 2011. Archived from the original on 15 January 2020. Retrieved 16 January 2020.
  61. ^ "Александр Малышев Лидер малышевской ОПГ" [Alexander Malyshev Leader of the Malyshevskaya organized crime group]. rusmafiozi (in Russian). 13 March 2011. Archived from the original on 24 January 2020. Retrieved 16 January 2020.
  62. ^ Кириленко (Kirilenko), Анастасия (Anastasia) (2 July 2015). "Мафия на госзаказе. Как новые кремлевские олигархи связаны с преступным миром" [Mafia at the state order. How are the new Kremlin oligarchs connected with the underworld]. The Insider (in Russian). Archived from the original on 3 July 2015. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
  63. ^ "Крыша российской элиты" [The roof of the Russian elite]. Fontaka.ru (in Russian). 23 June 2008. Archived from the original on 27 June 2008. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
  64. ^ Walker, Shaun; Sauer, Pjotr (23 August 2023). "Yevgeny Prigozhin: the hotdog seller who rose to the top of Putin's war machine". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 9 March 2023. Retrieved 24 August 2023.
  65. ^ Yaffa, Joshua (31 July 2023). "Inside the Wagner Group's Armed Uprising". The New Yorker. ISSN 0028-792X. Retrieved 24 August 2023.
  66. ^ Samuel, Henry (19 January 2023). "Chef hospitalised by Wagner boss after beating over stale tomatoes". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Archived from the original on 27 January 2023. Retrieved 24 August 2023.
  67. ^ Korotkov, Denis (12 January 2016). "Imperija Prigozhina vzjala voennye gorodki" Империя Пригожина взяла военные городки [The Prigogine Empire took military towns]. Fontaka.ru (in Russian). Archived from the original on 29 December 2021. Retrieved 19 March 2018.
  68. ^ a b Graff, Garrett M. "Inside the Mueller Indictment: A Russian Novel of Intrigue". Wired. Archived from the original on 4 January 2023. Retrieved 4 January 2023 – via wired.com.
  69. ^ Коротков, Денис (Korotkov, Denis) (29 May 2014). "Сотни троллей за миллионы" [Hundreds of trolls for millions]. «Фонтанка.ру» (Fontaka) (in Russian). Archived from the original on 29 May 2014. Retrieved 26 December 2019.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  70. ^ "Повар Путина взвинтил цены на кремлевский банкет" [Chef Putin inflated prices for the Kremlin banquet]. Rospres (in Russian). 16 December 2019. Archived from the original on 20 December 2019. Retrieved 19 December 2019.
  71. ^ "'Putin's Chef' Has Sanctioned Jets Flying To Strange Destinations". hromadske.ua. 29 October 2019. Archived from the original on 12 February 2023. Retrieved 8 March 2023.
  72. ^ "Он повар Путина. Он тролль Путина. Он миллиардер". сайт ФБК. Archived from the original on 7 March 2017. Retrieved 7 March 2017.
  73. ^ "Kremlin-Linked Businessman Prigozhin Vows to Ruin Navalny". The Moscow Times. 26 August 2020. Archived from the original on 5 September 2020. Retrieved 6 September 2020.
  74. ^ "Parents sue tycoon's firm over dysentery outbreak in Moscow". Financial Post. 14 May 2019. Archived from the original on 29 November 2020. Retrieved 6 September 2020.
  75. ^ OCCRP (28 December 2022). "2022 Person of the Year in Organized Crime and Corruption". Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project. Archived from the original on 29 December 2022. Retrieved 28 December 2022.
  76. ^ "Wagner mutiny: Group fully funded by Russia, says Putin". BBC News. 27 June 2023. Archived from the original on 29 June 2023. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
  77. ^ Grylls, George (18 April 2022). "'Putin's chef' Yevgeny Prigozhin oversees Wagner mercenaries in Donbas". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Archived from the original on 18 April 2022. Retrieved 18 April 2022.
  78. ^ "Russian mercenaries are Putin's 'coercive tool' in Africa". Associated Press. 23 April 2022. Archived from the original on 26 September 2022. Retrieved 26 September 2022.
  79. ^ "Band of Brothers: The Wagner Group and the Russian State". Center for Strategic and International Studies. 21 September 2020. Archived from the original on 27 March 2022. Retrieved 25 August 2023.
  80. ^ Brimelow, Ben. "Russia is using mercenaries to make it look like it's losing fewer troops in Syria". Business Insider. Archived from the original on 29 March 2022. Retrieved 28 May 2022.
  81. ^ "A new investigation into Wagner, Russia's private mercenary army". The Bell. 1 February 2019. Archived from the original on 29 August 2023. Retrieved 28 May 2022.
  82. ^ "Putin Chef's Kisses of Death: Russia's Shadow Army's State-Run Structure Exposed". Bellingcat. 14 August 2020. Archived from the original on 14 August 2020. Retrieved 28 May 2022.
  83. ^ "In Prigozhin's shadow, the Wagner Group leader who stays out of the spotlight". Global News. 29 June 2023. Archived from the original on 24 August 2023. Retrieved 25 August 2023.
  84. ^ a b "UAWire – Media: Wagner Group commander becomes CEO of Putin's friend's catering business". uawire.org. Archived from the original on 20 January 2022. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
  85. ^ a b "Russia's Wagner mercenaries halt prisoner recruitment campaign – Prigozhin". Reuters. 9 February 2023. Archived from the original on 19 May 2023. Retrieved 25 June 2023.
  86. ^ a b "Russian prisoner turned Wagner mercenary brutally executed while trying to desert" Archived 16 November 2022 at the Wayback Machine, MSN, James Kilner, 13 November 2022. Retrieved 16 November 2022.
  87. ^ "Russia Accuses U.S. of Helping Kyiv to Plan Kremlin Attack". The Wall Street Journal. 4 May 2023. Archived from the original on 4 May 2023. Retrieved 5 May 2023.
  88. ^ a b "Блеф или военный мятеж? Что означает ультиматум Евгения Пригожина". belsat.eu. Archived from the original on 29 June 2023. Retrieved 23 June 2023.
  89. ^ Maynes, Charles (6 March 2023). "Yevgeny Prigozhin, 'Putin's Chef,' has emerged from the shadows with his Wagner Group". NPR. Archived from the original on 24 May 2023. Retrieved 23 June 2023.
  90. ^ "Reading the Tea Leaves of Russia's Pro-War 'Z-Universe'". The Moscow Times. 14 October 2022. Archived from the original on 20 October 2022. Retrieved 20 October 2022.
  91. ^ "Putin's ally Yevgeny Prigozhin urges Russian MPs to join Wagner Group on front line". EuroWeekly News. 11 October 2022. Archived from the original on 20 October 2022. Retrieved 20 October 2022.
  92. ^ "Prigozhin's lesser war Now a 'full-fledged member of Putin's inner circle,' the Wagner Group's founder wages a crusade against St. Petersburg's loyalist governor, Alexander Beglov. What does this mean for the future of Putin's regime?". Meduza. 1 November 2022. Archived from the original on 17 November 2022. Retrieved 17 November 2022.
  93. ^ "The Wagner Mutiny Foreshadows a Russian Defeat. Prigozhin's escapade shows Putin's war in Ukraine isn't going well for him". Bloomberg. 24 June 2023. Archived from the original on 24 June 2023. Retrieved 23 June 2023.
  94. ^ "Конкуренция между ЧВК "Вагнер" и Минобороны РФ" [Competition between PMC Wagner and the Russian defense ministry]. Euronews (in Russian). 16 February 2023. Archived from the original on 25 June 2023. Retrieved 23 June 2023.
  95. ^ "Пригожин назвал потери "вагнеровцев" в Бахмуте и заявил о провале "демилитаризации" Украины" [Prigozhin stated "Wagnerite" losses in Bakhmut and announced the failure of the "demilitarization" of Ukraine]. Радио Свобода (RFE/RL) (in Russian). 24 May 2023. Archived from the original on 25 June 2023. Retrieved 23 June 2023.
  96. ^ a b c d ""Просто взяли и драпанули". Как развивается конфликт между ЧВК "Вагнер" и Минобороны из-за Бахмута" ["They just picked up and left." How is the conflict over Bahmut between PMC Wagner and the Ministry of Defense developing]. Русская служба Би-би-си (in Russian). 10 May 2023. Archived from the original on 27 June 2023. Retrieved 23 June 2023.
  97. ^ "Неудавшийся мятеж Пригожина: зачем и что теперь будет? Главные вопросы (на многие из которых пока нет ответа)" [Prigozhin's failed rebellion: what will happen now, and why? Key questions (many of which are still unanswered)]. Русская служба Би-би-си (in Russian). 26 June 2023. Archived from the original on 27 June 2023. Retrieved 25 June 2023.
  98. ^ "Евгений Пригожин потребовал от Минобороны дать ЧВК Вагнера снаряды" [Yevgeny Prigozhin demanded from the Ministry of Defense to give Wagner PMC shells]. Meduza. 26 June 2023. Archived from the original on 27 June 2023. Retrieved 25 June 2023.
  99. ^ "Сын Пескова – отморозок, зять Шойгу – у*бок, ВСУ – одна из сильнейших армий мира. Главное из интервью Пригожина" [Peskov's son–scumbag, Shoigu's son-in-law—f*ckhead, the Armed Forces of Ukraine are one of the strongest armies in the world. The main thing from Prigozhin's interview]. The Insider (in Russian). 24 June 2023. Archived from the original on 27 June 2023. Retrieved 25 June 2023.
  100. ^ "A portrait of Alexey Stolyarov, Russian defence minister's son-in-law". Novaya Gazeta. 20 June 2023. Archived from the original on 20 June 2023. Retrieved 25 June 2023.
  101. ^ "Russian Wagner Group leader says his troops will pull out of Ukraine's Bakhmut in days". CBC News. 5 May 2023. Archived from the original on 5 May 2023. Retrieved 5 May 2023.
  102. ^ a b ""Шойгу, Герасимов, где, сука, боеприпасы?" Пригожин записал видео для Минобороны на фоне трупов наемников ЧВК Вагнера (много мата)". Meduza. 5 May 2023. Archived from the original on 24 June 2023. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
  103. ^ "Без тяжелой техники и авиации. Московский парад Победы оказался очень скромным" [Without heavy equipment and aviation. The Moscow Victory Parade turned out to be very modest]. Русская служба Би-би-си (in Russian). 9 May 2023. Archived from the original on 1 June 2023. Retrieved 9 May 2023.
  104. ^ "'Счастливый дедушка думает, что ему хорошо. Но что делать стране, если вдруг окажется, что дедушка – законченный мудак?' Евгений Пригожин высказался о положении на фронте. Мы не знаем, о каком дедушке он говорит" ["The happy grandpa thinks he is doing well. But what should the country do if it suddenly turns out that the grandpa is a complete bastard?" Yevgeny Prigozhin spoke about the situation on the frontlines. We don't know which grandpa is referring to.]. Meduza (in Russian). 9 May 2023. Archived from the original on 21 June 2023. Retrieved 9 May 2023.
  105. ^ "'Если так пойдет и дальше, силовики это прекратят» 'Медуза' выяснила, как в Кремле отнеслись к заявлению Пригожина про 'счастливого дедушку', который может оказаться «законченным мудаком'" ['If it keeps going on like this, the security forces will bring it to an end.' Meduza found out how the Kremlin reacted to Prigozhin’s statement about a 'happy grandpa' who could turn out to be a 'complete asshole']. Meduza (in Russian). 10 May 2023. Archived from the original on 28 June 2023. Retrieved 9 May 2023.
  106. ^ "Wagner Group leader gives Russian Defenсe Minister an ultimatum, says Russian army is fleeing". Archived from the original on 9 May 2023. Retrieved 9 May 2023.
  107. ^ "Russian army brigade flees Bakhmut". Archived from the original on 10 May 2023. Retrieved 10 May 2023.
  108. ^ "Ukraine's defenders defeat 72nd Russian brigade near Bakhmut, liberate territory and capture prisoners". Archived from the original on 10 May 2023. Retrieved 10 May 2023.
  109. ^ "ЧВК 'Вагнер' задержал подполковника российской армии и заставил извиниться. Что происходит?" [PMC 'Wagner' detained a lieutenant colonel of the Russian army and forced him to apologize. What's happening?]. Русская служба Би-би-си (in Russian). 5 June 2023. Archived from the original on 21 June 2023. Retrieved 25 June 2023.
  110. ^ "Approval of Institutions, Ratings of Politicians: May 2023". 7 June 2023.
  111. ^ "The Far Right Today". Wiley.com. Archived from the original on 2 December 2022. Retrieved 25 June 2023.
  112. ^ "Мятеж Пригожина – это разоблачение Путина Затеянная президентом России война шаг за шагом превращает его в голого короля. Скоро это будет вынуждено признать даже его окружение" [Prigozhin's rebellion is the unmasking of Putin. The war started by the President of Russia, step by step, turns him into an emperor with no clothes. Soon even his entourage will be forced to admit it.]. Meduza (in Russian). Archived from the original on 27 June 2023. Retrieved 25 June 2023.
  113. ^ Ellyatt, Holly (4 April 2023). "Russia's ultranationalists appear increasingly vulnerable after pro-war blogger's killing". Archived from the original on 26 July 2023. Retrieved 26 July 2023.
  114. ^ Osborn, Andrew (13 June 2023). "Putin backs push for mercenary groups to sign contracts despite Wagner's refusal". Reuters. Archived from the original on 22 June 2023. Retrieved 24 June 2023.
  115. ^ Kirby, Paul (24 June 2023). "Wagner chief's 24 hours of chaos in Russia". BBC News. Archived from the original on 24 June 2023. Retrieved 25 June 2023.
  116. ^ "Rebel Russian mercenaries barrel towards Moscow". Euractiv. 24 June 2023. Archived from the original on 29 June 2023. Retrieved 24 June 2023.
  117. ^ "'There's nobody on earth who can stop them' What Wagner Group veterans have to say about Yevgeny Prigozhin's armed rebellion". Meduza. Archived from the original on 30 June 2023. Retrieved 25 June 2023.
  118. ^ a b c "Pavel Evgen'yevich Prigozhin". OpenSanctions. 3 March 2022. Archived from the original on 11 February 2023. Retrieved 10 February 2023.
  119. ^ Osborn, Andrew; Liffey, Kevin (24 June 2023). "Russia accuses mercenary boss of mutiny after he says Moscow killed 2,000 of his men". Reuters. Archived from the original on 23 June 2023. Retrieved 24 June 2023.
  120. ^ Reevell, Patrick (23 June 2023). "Russian mercenary chief appears to threaten rebellion, questions invasion". ABC News. Archived from the original on 23 June 2023. Retrieved 24 June 2023.
  121. ^ "Wagner head Prigozhin says Russian army attacked his forces". Deutsche Welle. 23 June 2023. Archived from the original on 23 June 2023. Retrieved 24 June 2023.
  122. ^ Risen, James (23 June 2023). "Yevgeny Prigozhin's Coup Targets Putin and His 'Oligarchic Clan'". The Intercept. Archived from the original on 24 June 2023. Retrieved 25 June 2023.
  123. ^ a b Busvine, Douglas; Gavin, Gabriel; Sheftalovich, Zoya (24 June 2023). "Putin raises specter of civil war as Wagner boss Prigozhin menaces Moscow". Politico. Archived from the original on 24 June 2023. Retrieved 24 June 2023.
  124. ^ "Prigozhin Says Moscow Strikes Kill 'Huge' Number of Wagner Forces, Vows to 'Stop' Top Brass". The Moscow Times. 23 June 2023. ISSN 1563-6275. Wikidata Q119860197. Archived from the original on 23 June 2023.
  125. ^ a b "Russia: Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin calls halt to Moscow advance". BBC News. 24 June 2023. Archived from the original on 24 June 2023. Retrieved 24 June 2023.
  126. ^ Roth, Andrew; Sauer, Pjotr (26 June 2023). "Vladimir Putin says enemies wanted Russia to 'choke on civil strife'". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 26 June 2023. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
  127. ^ Wang, Christine (24 June 2023). "Putin accuses Wagner mercenaries of treason, vows to punish takeover of key Russian city". CNBC. Archived from the original on 24 June 2023. Retrieved 24 June 2023.
  128. ^ "Prigozjin kræver to hoveder serveret for at stoppe sin march mod Moskva" [Prigozhin demands two heads served to stop his march on Moscow]. TV2 Nyheder (in Danish). 24 June 2023. Archived from the original on 30 June 2023. Retrieved 24 June 2023.
  129. ^ "Russian mercenary chief says he ordered his forces to halt march on Moscow and return to Ukraine". AP NEWS. 24 June 2023. Archived from the original on 24 June 2023. Retrieved 24 June 2023.
  130. ^ "'Putin was nowhere to be found' An inside look into the Kremlin's attempted negotiations with Prigozhin and why it took Lukashenko to put an end to the rebellion". Meduza. Archived from the original on 30 June 2023. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
  131. ^ Sonne, Paul (24 June 2023). "President Aleksandr G. Lukashenko of Belarus was in talks on Saturday with the head of the Wagner private military group, Yevgeny V. Prigozhin, according to a statement released by the Belarusian state news agency". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 30 June 2023. Retrieved 24 June 2023.
  132. ^ "Russia says Wagner Group's leader will move to Belarus after his rebellious march challenged Putin". AP News. 24 June 2023. Archived from the original on 24 June 2023. Retrieved 24 June 2023.
  133. ^ "Prigozhin has moved to Belarus, and Russia won't press charges for mutiny". ABC News. 27 June 2023. Archived from the original on 1 July 2023. Retrieved 28 June 2023.
  134. ^ Kirby, Paul (27 June 2023). "Belarus leader welcomes Wagner boss Prigozhin into exile". BBC News. Archived from the original on 29 June 2023. Retrieved 28 June 2023.
  135. ^ Marsi, Edna Mohamed, Federica. "Wagner will no longer fight in Ukraine, Russian official says". www.aljazeera.com. Archived from the original on 29 June 2023. Retrieved 29 June 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  136. ^ Peter, Laurence (26 June 2023). "Russia still investigating Wagner boss Prigozhin for treason". BBC News. Archived from the original on 22 July 2023. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
  137. ^ Rainsford, Sarah; Mackintoshe, Thomas (6 July 2023). "Wagner boss Prigozhin is in Russia, Belarus ruler Lukashenko says". BBC News. Archived from the original on 6 July 2023. Retrieved 6 July 2023.
  138. ^ "Prigozhin in video tells Wagner troops to prepare 'for Africa'". Al Jazeera. 19 July 2023. Archived from the original on 29 July 2023. Retrieved 29 July 2023.
  139. ^ "Prigozhin: Wagner boss spotted in Russia during Africa summit". BBC News. 28 July 2023. Archived from the original on 28 July 2023. Retrieved 28 July 2023.
  140. ^ Wolff, Stefan (28 July 2023). "Russia-Africa summit: Putin offers unconvincing giveaways in a desperate bid to make up for killing the Ukraine grain deal". The Conversation. Archived from the original on 31 July 2023. Retrieved 29 July 2023.
  141. ^ "Wagner ready to increase Africa presence, Prigozhin tells local media". Reuters. 29 July 2023. Archived from the original on 29 July 2023. Retrieved 29 July 2023.
  142. ^ Meyer, Henry; Arkhipov, Ilya; Rahagalala, Aina (20 November 2018). "Putin's Notorious 'Chef' Is Now Meddling Across Africa: The man indicted in the U.S. for interfering in the 2016 election is spreading Russia's reach across the continent". Bloomberg. Archived from the original on 14 December 2018. Retrieved 26 December 2019.
  143. ^ "Шеф и повар. Часть первая. Расследование о том, как Евгений Пригожин возглавил российское наступление в Африке" [Chef and cook. Part one. Investigation of how Yevgeny Prigozhin led the Russian offensive in Africa]. Проект Медиа (Proekt) (in Russian). 13 March 2019. Archived from the original on 2 June 2020. Retrieved 26 December 2019. Since 2018, Russia began an active expansion in Africa, helping the countries of the continent politically, financially and openly supporting them with military force. At the forefront of this expansion was the "Kremlin cook" Yevgeny Prigozhin, who fell under US sanctions for trying to influence the election of the American president. However, not only Prigozhin, but also budget money was spent on promoting the interests of the Kremlin in Africa. The "Project" tells how this campaign is organized, using the example of Madagascar, where the plans of Russia and Prigozhin turned out to be especially large-scale, and the failures eloquent. (translated from Russian)
  144. ^ Чуракова, Ольга (Churakova, Olga) (20 March 2019). "В странах Африки работают до 200 политтехнологов, связанных с Пригожиным" [In Africa, up to 200 political strategists associated with Prigozhin work]. TV Rain (in Russian). Archived from the original on 5 June 2019. Retrieved 10 January 2020.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  145. ^ "Уран, алмазы, золото и ваниль. Bloomberg раскрыл географию интересов 'кремлевского повара' Пригожина в Африке: 10 стран!" [Uranium, Diamonds, Gold and Vanilla. Bloomberg has revealed the geography of interests of the 'Kremlin cook' Prigozhin in Africa: 10 countries!]. Novaya Gazeta (in Russian). 20 November 2018. Archived from the original on 27 December 2019. Retrieved 26 December 2019.
  146. ^ Rozhdestvensky, Ilya; Rubin, Mikhail; Badanin, Roman (11 April 2019). "Шеф и повар. Часть третья. Расследование о том, как Россия вмешивается в выборы в двадцати странах: Документы из офиса работающих на Евгения Пригожина политтехнологов показывают стратегию российского вмешательства в африканскую политику – разжигать антизападные настроения и реанимировать старые территориальные споры. Но пока российской экспансии мешают три проблемы – непрофессионализм, коррупция и пьянство" [Chef and cook. Part three. Investigation of how Russia intervenes in elections in twenty countries: Documents from the office of political strategists working for Yevgeny Prigozhin show the strategy of Russian intervention in African politics – to foment anti-Western sentiments and reanimate old territorial disputes. But while Russian expansion is hindered by three problems – unprofessionalism, corruption and drunkenness.]. Проект Медиа (Proekt) (in Russian). Archived from the original on 5 July 2019. Retrieved 10 January 2020.
  147. ^ "'Проект': связанные с Пригожиным политтехнологи работают в 20 африканских странах" ['Project': political strategists associated with Prigozhin work in 20 African countries]. Novaya Gazeta (in Russian). 11 April 2019. Archived from the original on 27 December 2019. Retrieved 26 December 2019.
  148. ^ a b "Человек Пригожина начал разведку алмазов в районе убийства российских журналистов: Тем временем его жена общается с египетскими богами, очищает ауру и консультируется у уфологов" [Prigozhin's man began exploration of diamonds in the area of the murder of Russian journalists. Meanwhile, his wife communicates with the Egyptian gods, cleans the aura and consults with ufologists]. «Руспрес» (Ruspres) (in Russian). 24 April 2019. Archived from the original on 28 April 2019. Retrieved 26 December 2019.
  149. ^ a b "Фонд, который СМИ связывают с политтехнологом Пригожина, перечислил Бутиной 5 млн рублей" [The fund, which the media associate with the political strategist Prigozhin, transferred 5 million rubles to Butina]. Znak (in Russian). 29 May 2019. Archived from the original on 27 December 2019. Retrieved 26 December 2019.
  150. ^ "Бычков Петр Александрович" [Bychkov, Petr Alexandrovich]. Российская Ассоциация Политических Консультантов РАПК (Russian Association of Political Consultants RAPK) (in Russian). 2017. Archived from the original on 5 July 2019. Retrieved 10 January 2020.
  151. ^ "В России создана ассоциация политических консультантов. В марте 2014 года в Москве на 1-м Конгрессе российских политических консультантов было объявлено о создании Российской ассоциации политических консультантов. Первым президентом ассоциации абсолютным большинством голосов избран глава агентства 'Никколо М' Игорь Минтусов. Исполнительным вице-президентом стал политтехнолог Виталий Сергеев" [An association of political consultants created in Russia. In March 2014, in Moscow, at the first Congress of Russian Political Consultants, the creation of the Russian Association of Political Consultants was announced. The head of the Niccolo M agency, Igor Mintusov, was elected the first president of the association by an absolute majority of votes. Vitaly Sergeyev, a political strategist, became Executive Vice President.]. advertology.ru (in Russian). 25 March 2014. Archived from the original on 11 January 2020. Retrieved 10 January 2020.
  152. ^ "Российские политтехнологи изведают Африку – Газета Коммерсантъ № 69 (6307) от 20.04.2018". 31 March 2019. Archived from the original on 31 March 2019.
  153. ^ "Члены РАПК – Ярослав Игнатовский". rapc.pro. Archived from the original on 30 September 2022. Retrieved 10 June 2021.
  154. ^ "Ярослав Игнатовский – "ПолитГен"". 28 January 2021. Archived from the original on 28 January 2021. Retrieved 9 November 2022.
  155. ^ "Новости Руспрес – Александр Беглов – мелкий паразит на теле Евгения Пригожина". 28 March 2019. Archived from the original on 28 March 2019.
  156. ^ "How a Russian Plan to Restore Qaddafi's Regime Backfired". Bloomberg News. 20 March 2020. Archived from the original on 20 March 2020. Retrieved 20 March 2020.
  157. ^ "Niger tense as ECOWAS ultimatum to junta set to expire – DW – 08/06/2023". Deutsche Welle. 6 August 2023. Archived from the original on 6 August 2023. Retrieved 6 August 2023.
  158. ^ "Niger's president vows democracy will prevail after mutinous soldiers detain him and declare a coup". AP News. 27 July 2023. Archived from the original on 27 July 2023. Retrieved 6 August 2023.
  159. ^ Losh, Jack; Mathews, Owen (9 August 2018). "'Battle for Africa': Russia Pushes Into 'Free Country for the Taking' In Attempt to Rival the West". Newsweek. Archived from the original on 1 December 2021. Retrieved 30 January 2020.
  160. ^ "'С русскими все возможно': что пишет пресса ЦАР об убийстве журналистов" ['Everything is possible with the Russians': what the CAR press writes about the murder of journalists] (in Russian). BBC. 2 August 2018. Archived from the original on 13 May 2022. Retrieved 30 January 2020.
  161. ^ a b c Bayev, Anton; Maglov, Mikhail) (31 August 2018). "Контракт от президента: что получила в ЦАР компания, которую связывают с Пригожиным" [Contract from the president: what the company got in the Central African Republic, which is associated with Prigozhin]. The Bell (in Russian). Archived from the original on 30 October 2018. Retrieved 30 January 2020.
  162. ^ Atasuntsev, Alexander; Pudovkin, Evgeny (23 April 2019). "Экс-глава связанной с Пригожиным фирмы получил алмазный контракт в ЦАР: Минфин ЦАР опубликовал контракты с компанией Lobaye Invest на разработку алмазов и золота. Директором фирмы указан Евгений Ходотов, которого СМИ называли выходцем из силовых структур Петербурга и связывали с Евгением Пригожиным" [Ex-head of Prigozhin-related company received a diamond contract in the Central African Republic: The CAR Ministry of Finance has published contracts with the company Lobaye Invest for the development of diamonds and gold. The director of the company is Yevgeny Khodotov, whom the media called a native of the power structures of Saint Petersburg and associated with Yevgeny Prigozhin]. RBC (in Russian). Archived from the original on 23 April 2019. Retrieved 30 January 2020.
  163. ^ Barabanov, Ilya; Reuter, Svetlana; Soshnikov, Andrey; Zakharov, Andrey; Goryashko, Sergey (31 January 2019). "Золото Пригожина. Чем занимались россияне в ЦАР, когда погибли журналисты" [Gold Prigogine. What did the Russians do in the Central African Republic when journalists died] (in Russian). BBC. Archived from the original on 5 July 2019. Retrieved 30 January 2020.
  164. ^ "Moscow sets its sights on the gold and diamonds". Africa Intelligence. 18 July 2018. Archived from the original on 1 January 2020. Retrieved 30 January 2020.
  165. ^ Hodge, Nathan; Shukla, Sebastian; Ilyushinavia, Mary (23 February 2018). "Putin's 'chef' accused of trying to cover his tracks". CNN. Archived from the original on 20 June 2018. Retrieved 24 February 2018 – via Internet Archive.
  166. ^ a b c Krever, Mick; Chernova, Anna (14 February 2023). "Wagner chief admits to founding Russian troll farm sanctioned for meddling in US elections". CNN. Archived from the original on 14 February 2023. Retrieved 14 February 2023.
  167. ^ Andrew Soshnikov (30 May 2014). "Интернет-тролли из Ольгино заговорили на английском и украинском" [Internet trolls from Olgino start talking in English and Ukrainian]. Moy Rayon (in Russian). Archived from the original on 13 June 2016. Retrieved 12 June 2016.
  168. ^ Andrew Soshnikov (4 September 2013). "Под Петербургом обнаружено логово троллей, которые клеймят Навального и хвалят русское кино" [Near St. Petersburg lies the lair of trolls that brand and praise Russian cinema]. Moy Rayon (in Russian). Archived from the original on 27 May 2016. Retrieved 12 June 2016.
  169. ^ "Cook with his cockroaches" Archived 17 November 2019 at the Wayback Machine, Novaja Gaseta, 8 November 2018
  170. ^ President of The United States (19 March 2016). "Ukraine EO13661" (PDF). Federal Register. Archived (PDF) from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 20 February 2016.
  171. ^ "Russia/Ukraine-related Designations and Identifications; Publication of Russia/Ukraine-related General License". treasury.gov. 20 December 2016. Archived from the original on 17 February 2018. Retrieved 28 February 2018.
  172. ^ "Treasury Sanctions Individuals and Entities In Connection with Russia's Occupation of Crimea and the Conflict in Ukraine". U.S. Department of the Treasury. 20 December 2016. Archived from the original on 23 January 2018. Retrieved 28 February 2018.
  173. ^ "Russia/Ukraine-related Designations and Identifications". treasury.gov. 20 June 2017. Archived from the original on 6 March 2018. Retrieved 28 February 2018.
  174. ^ "Treasury Designates Individuals and Entities Involved in the Ongoing Conflict in Ukraine". U.S. Department of the Treasury. 20 June 2017. Archived from the original on 15 February 2018. Retrieved 28 February 2018.
  175. ^ "Russia/Ukraine-related Designations and Identifications". treasury.gov. 26 January 2018. Archived from the original on 25 February 2018. Retrieved 28 February 2018.
  176. ^ "Treasury Sanctions Additional Individuals and Entities in Connection with the Conflict in Ukraine and Russia's Occupation of Crimea". U.S. Department of the Treasury. 26 January 2018. Archived from the original on 23 February 2022. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
  177. ^ "U.S. Sanctions 2 Russians Connected to 'Kremlin Troll Factory'". U.S. Department of the Treasury. 30 September 2019. Archived from the original on 14 May 2021. Retrieved 10 January 2020.
  178. ^ a b "Бомж-телохранитель Евгения Пригожина травит школьников" [Homeless bodyguard Yevgeny Prigogine poisons schoolchildren]. «Руспрес» (Ruspres) (in Russian). 15 August 2019. Archived from the original on 12 January 2020. Retrieved 11 January 2020.
  179. ^ a b c d "Африкано-сирийская глиссада самолета Евгения Пригожина" [African-Syrian glide path of the plane Evgeny Prigozhin]. «Руспрес» (Ruspres) (in Russian). 5 February 2019. Archived from the original on 12 January 2020. Retrieved 11 January 2020.
  180. ^ Dolinina, Irina; Marohovskaya, Alesya; Korotkov, Denis; Šimák, Jakub (17 December 2019). "The Chef's Global Footprints". Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP). Archived from the original on 14 January 2020. Retrieved 13 January 2020.
  181. ^ Council Decision (CFSP) 2022/265 of 23 February 2022 amending Decision 2014/145/CFSP concerning restrictive measures in respect of actions undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine, 23 February 2022, archived from the original on 16 January 2023, retrieved 3 March 2022
  182. ^ a b "Treasury sanctions Russians bankrolling Putin and Russia-backed influence actors". U.S. Department of the Treasury. 2022. Archived from the original on 6 March 2022. Retrieved 18 November 2022.
  183. ^ "Russian oligarch targets Nanaia Mahuta for racist, homophobic attack". RNZ. 14 October 2022. Archived from the original on 3 August 2023. Retrieved 3 August 2023.
  184. ^ "Indictment document". Archived from the original on 24 February 2018. Retrieved 16 February 2018.
  185. ^ "Prosecutors Move to Dismiss Case Against Concord Management | Law & Crime". 16 March 2020. Archived from the original on 17 March 2020. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
  186. ^ "Out-Trolled: DOJ, Sick of Russian Firm's Antics, Bails on its Own Election Meddling Case | Talking Points Memo". 17 March 2020. Archived from the original on 17 March 2020. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
  187. ^ "FBI Adds 'Putin's Chef' to Wanted List, Offers $250K Reward". The Moscow Times. 26 February 2021. Archived from the original on 24 June 2021. Retrieved 26 February 2021.
  188. ^ "YEVGENIY VIKTOROVICH PRIGOZHIN". Federal Bureau of Investigation. Archived from the original on 26 February 2021. Retrieved 26 February 2021.
  189. ^ Nick Wadhams; Jennifer Jacobs (3 March 2022). "U.S. Sanctions Usmanov, Prigozhin, Tokarev, Other Russian Elites". Bloomberg News. Archived from the original on 3 March 2022. Retrieved 3 March 2022.
  190. ^ "Treasury Sanctions Russians Bankrolling Putin and Russia-Backed Influence Actors". U.S. Department of the Treasury. Archived from the original on 6 March 2022. Retrieved 7 March 2022.
  191. ^ "U.S. Offers $10 Million Reward For Russian Election Interference Info". Huffington Post. 29 July 2022. Archived from the original on 29 July 2022. Retrieved 29 July 2022.
  192. ^ "Russia's Prigozhin admits interfering in U.S. elections". Reuters. 7 November 2022. Archived from the original on 17 November 2022. Retrieved 17 November 2022.
  193. ^ "Бутина просит помочь ей оплатить услуги адвоката" [Butina asks to help her pay for a lawyer]. Voice of America (VOA) (in Russian). Associated Press. 19 May 2019. Archived from the original on 27 December 2019. Retrieved 26 December 2019.
  194. ^ "Вместо Левитина Бутину профинансирует Пригожин: Фонд защиты национальных ценностей оторвал от сердца 5 млн рублей из необходимых 50" [Instead of Levitin, Butina will be financed by Prigozhin. The National Values Protection Fund gave 5 million rubles out of the necessary 50]. «Руспрес» (Ruspres) (in Russian). 30 May 2019. Archived from the original on 27 December 2019. Retrieved 26 December 2019.
  195. ^ "Butina needs over $650,000 to pay US lawyer's fees". TASS. 4 June 2019. Archived from the original on 7 November 2020. Retrieved 6 September 2020.
  196. ^ "Отрицательный баланс: Бутиной не хватает 40 млн рублей на адвокатов. Защита россиянки может отказаться от нее из-за финансовых проблем" [Negative balance: Butina lacks 40 million rubles for lawyers. Protection of a Russian woman may refuse her because of financial problems]. Izvestia (in Russian). 12 February 2019. Archived from the original on 12 February 2019. Retrieved 26 December 2019.
  197. ^ a b c "Пригожина Любовь" [Progozhina Lyubov]. Spa & Management website (in Russian). 22 September 2014. Archived from the original on 27 December 2019. Retrieved 26 December 2019.
  198. ^ a b "Международная Премия 'Perfect SPA' – 2013: Подведены итоги и награждены победители Международной Премии 'Perfect SPA' – 2013" [International Award 'Perfect SPA' – 2013: Summed up and awarded the winners of the International Award 'Perfect SPA' – 2013.]. 1nep.ru (in Russian). 2 December 2013. Archived from the original on 27 December 2019. Retrieved 26 December 2019.
  199. ^ "Евгений Пригожин, он же 'Повар Путина' не платит за землю в Петербурге" [Yevgeny Prigozhin, aka 'Putin Cook' does not pay for land in Saint Petersburg]. TSNLIFE (in Russian). 28 June 2018. Retrieved 26 December 2019.[permanent dead link‍]
  200. ^ Гладышева, Ольга (Gladysheva, Olga) (20 April 2019). "Пока Пригожин управляет армией наемников, его жена нанимает уфологов и ищет рецепт бессмертия в своем спа-салоне" [While Prigozhin manages an army of mercenaries, his wife hires ufologists and seeks a recipe for immortality in her spa-salon]. TV Rain (in Russian). Archived from the original on 27 December 2019. Retrieved 26 December 2019.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  201. ^ Пастуков, Владимир (Pastukov, Vladimir) (28 June 2018). "'Повар Путина' перестал платить за землю в Петербурге" ['Putin Cook' has stopped paying for land in St. Petersburg]. Э́хо Москвы́ (Ekho Moskvy) (in Russian). Archived from the original on 27 December 2019. Retrieved 26 December 2019.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  202. ^ "Шеф и повар. Часть вторая: Рассказ о том, кого и как кормит кремлевский ресторатор" [Chef and cook. Part two: The story of whom and how the Kremlin restaurateur feeds]. Проект Медиа (Proekt) (in Russian). 28 March 2019. Archived from the original on 21 September 2019. Retrieved 26 December 2019.
  203. ^ a b "Polina Evgen'yevna Prigozhina". OpenSanctions. 3 March 2022. Archived from the original on 11 February 2023. Retrieved 10 February 2023.
  204. ^ "Prigozhina Veronika – OpenSanctions". www.opensanctions.org. 22 March 2022. Archived from the original on 12 March 2023. Retrieved 25 June 2023.
  205. ^ Times, The Moscow (1 June 2023). "Wagner Head Prigozhin's Past Life as a Children's Author and Illustrator". The Moscow Times. Archived from the original on 24 August 2023. Retrieved 24 August 2023.
  206. ^ "Horses, art and private jets: the charmed life of Russian warlord's family". Financial Times. 26 April 2023. Archived from the original on 27 May 2023. Retrieved 25 June 2023.
  207. ^ "Mother of Russian mercenary chief Prigozhin wins rare appeal against EU sanctions". Reuters. 8 March 2023. Archived from the original on 1 June 2023. Retrieved 25 June 2023.
  208. ^ "СМИ: Миллиардер Евгений Пригожин с подачи Дмитрия Медведева собирается намыть у Лахты остров" [Media: Billionaire Yevgeny Prigozhin, with the filing of Dmitry Medvedev, is going to wash an island near Lakhta]. dp (in Russian). 18 January 2018. Archived from the original on 18 January 2018. Retrieved 26 December 2019.
  209. ^ "Fighting in Ukraine descends into trench warfare as Russia looks to break through". The Guardian. 28 November 2022. Archived from the original on 29 November 2022. Retrieved 29 November 2022.
  210. ^ "Violetta prigozhina". opensanctions.org. 2022. Archived from the original on 18 November 2022. Retrieved 18 November 2022.
  211. ^ Allison Elyse Gualtieri (7 March 2022). "Who are the Russian oligarchs the U.S. is targeting with sanctions?". CBS News. Retrieved 26 December 2022.
  212. ^ Rankin, Jennifer (23 February 2022). "EU approves wide-ranging sanctions against Russia over Ukraine". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 24 October 2022. Retrieved 11 November 2022.
  213. ^ "Wagner boss Prigozhin confirmed dead in plane crash – Moscow". BBC News. 27 August 2023. Archived from the original on 27 August 2023. Retrieved 27 August 2023.
  214. ^ "Russia says it confirmed Wagner leader Prigozhin died in a plane crash". AP News. 27 August 2023. Archived from the original on 28 August 2023. Retrieved 28 August 2023.
  215. ^ Seddon, Max (23 August 2023). "Yevgeny Prigozhin was passenger on crashed plane, Russian officials say". Financial Times. Archived from the original on 23 August 2023. Retrieved 23 August 2023.
  216. ^ "Russland: Privatjet abgestürzt – laut Tass war Prigoschin auf der Passagierliste". Der Spiegel (in German). 23 August 2023. ISSN 2195-1349. Archived from the original on 23 August 2023. Retrieved 23 August 2023.
  217. ^ "Prigozhin confirmed dead after genetic tests – Moscow". BBC News. 27 August 2023. Archived from the original on 27 August 2023. Retrieved 27 August 2023.
  218. ^ Gardner, Frank; Lukiv, Jaroslav; Greenall, Robert (23 August 2023). "Wagner boss Prigozhin killed in plane crash in Russia". BBC News. Archived from the original on 23 August 2023. Retrieved 23 August 2023.
  219. ^ "Крушение самолета Евгения Пригожина Бизнесмен значился в списке пассажиров, но был ли он на борту – неизвестно. Главное". Meduza (in Russian). Archived from the original on 23 August 2023. Retrieved 23 August 2023.
  220. ^ "Russia: Residents of city where Wagner's mutiny started honour memory of Prigozhin". Africanews. Archived from the original on 26 August 2023. Retrieved 26 August 2023.
  221. ^ "Wagner Fighter Breaks Down At Prigozhin Memorial In Russia | Moscow Residents Say 'Not Surprised'". Hindustan Times. 24 August 2023. Archived from the original on 25 August 2023. Retrieved 26 August 2023.
  222. ^ "Prigozhin buried in private funeral – Wagner chief's press service". BBC. 29 August 2023. Archived from the original on 29 August 2023. Retrieved 29 August 2023.
  223. ^ "Ukrainian Intelligence Can't Confirm Prigozhin's Death in Plane Crash". Kyiv Post. 6 September 2023.
  224. ^ Carey, Andrew; Orie, Amarachi (8 September 2023). "Zelensky dismisses compromise with Putin, pointing to Prigozhin's death". CNN. Retrieved 10 September 2023.
  225. ^ "Prigozhin Killing Ordered by Putin's Security Council Chief – WSJ". The Moscow Times. 22 December 2023.
  226. ^ Илья Фурсеев (25 June 2022). "Песков ответил на информацию о присвоении 'Героя России' Пригожину". РБК. Archived from the original on 15 September 2022. Retrieved 6 August 2022.
  227. ^ Лилия Яппарова, Андрей Перцев, Алексей Славин (13 July 2022). "Грубо говоря, мы начали войну. Как отправка ЧВК Вагнера на фронт помогла Пригожину наладить отношения с Путиным – и что такое 'собянинский полк'". Meduza. Archived from the original on 20 July 2022. Retrieved 6 August 2022.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  228. ^ Анна Павлова, Елизавета Нестерова (6 August 2022). "'В первую очередь интересуют убийцы и разбойники – вам у нас понравится'. Похоже, Евгений Пригожин лично вербует наемников в колониях". Mediazona. Archived from the original on 20 September 2022. Retrieved 6 August 2022.
  229. ^ "Пригожин предложил стать посредником для урегулирования ситуации в Судане". TACC. Archived from the original on 8 May 2023. Retrieved 5 August 2023.
  230. ^ "Wagner PMC founder offers mediation services for settlement in Sudan". TASS. Archived from the original on 23 August 2023. Retrieved 5 August 2023.
  231. ^ "Prigozhin Monument Unveiled in Southern Russia's Krasnodar Region". The Moscow Times. 5 April 2024. Retrieved 5 April 2024.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Yevgeny_Prigozhin&oldid=1259057794"