A man’s mutiny against Russia that ended in a plane crash, this news has now made a full circle around the world in the last few hours, making Wagner Group chief Yevgeny Prigozhin one of the most discussed topics globally.
Prigzohin, a Russian oligarch and mercenary leader who had been a close confidant of Russian President Vladimir Putin, died in a plane crash on August 23, two months after his group carried out an armed mutiny against Russia in June.
Once close enough to Putin to be called his “personal chef”, authorities have said Prigozhin was on board the plane that crashed, leaving no survivors. The mercenary group chief was last seen in a video released earlier this week in which he claimed to be in Africa. However, it remains unclear if he was back in Russia since the video was shot.
The Wagner group played a key role in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine before turning against them and launching an insurrection against the Russian military.
Who was Yevgeny Prigozhin and how did he become close to Putin?
Born on June 1, 1961, in Russia’s St Petersburg, Yevgeny Prigozhin was a long-time ally of Putin and he co-founded the Wagner Group in 2014 during Russia’s 2014 invasion of Crimea. Before he rose to power and became one of Russia’s richest and most influential men, Prigozhin reportedly spent a decade in prison. As per The Guardian, he was implicated in several robberies in his teens in early 1980 and was sentenced to 13 years in prison. He got out in 1990 as the Soviet Union inched towards its end.
He reportedly first met Putin after his years in prison. Upon leaving jail, Prigozhin started his own catering business and even Putin asked him to provide food for his birthday parties as well as dinners involving visiting leaders, including US President George Bush and Jacques Chirac of France, CNN reported.
As his business grew, Prigozhin’s firm ‘Concord Catering’ swelled in fame among various Russian government entities, including the military. A businessman who once knew the Wagner chief told The Guardian that Prigozhin “can adapt to please any person if he needs something from them. That is definitely one of his talents”. Prigozhin developed a friendship with Vladimir Putin. This friendship proved to be extremely fruitful for both men.
Birth of the Wagner Group
Up until 2022, Prigozhin denied any links to the group, which was formed as the Crimea invasion took place. The group reportedly coordinated with Russian armed forces but remained distinct from them. This group took on controversial tasks and operations in cases where the Russian regulators’ involvement could have stirred trouble.
After Crimea was captured, Wagner’s private military contractors (PMCs) were sent to Donbas in Eastern Ukraine. There they helped pro-Russian separatist forces of the self-declared Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics from 2014 to 2015. The group’s success in its early operations earned it the position of a proxy army for Putin. It could intervene in places where Russia officially could not.
Here it is crucial to note that private militaries were, and still are, officially banned in Russia.
The Wagner Group was labelled as a “significant transnational criminal organisation” by the US in early 2023. Besides its role in the Ukrainian invasion, the group has also been linked to mass executions, abductions and other human rights abuses in the Central African Republic and Mali, the US government had said. It has also allegedly operated in Syria and other African nations. It served as a deniable military force for the Kremlin, in Syria and across Africa, ABC News said.
What went wrong between Putin and Prigozhin during Ukrainian invasion?
The Wagner chief was seen inside a prison recruiting convicts to fight for Russia against Ukraine last year. In a video whoch went viral in 2022, Prigozhin could be seen telling the prisoners they would probably die at the front. However, they promised to be released with a full pardon and paid generously if tey survived for six months. Wagner Group suddenly expanded significantly, with an influx of convict fighters.
In May this year, the group seized the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut. Prigozhin was later seen bath-mouthing some of Russia’s top officials. After Bakhmut’s capture, he issued a video in which he complained about treachery of Putin’s top brass, in particular Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov. He continued criticising the top military leaders for not caring about his troops and using them. He also showed a field of dead Wagner members who he said died due to a lack of munitions caused by decisions made by Shoigu and Gerasimov.
All of this led to the final showdown when the group carried out a mutiny against Russia in June. However, a deal was brokered by the office of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko after which Prigozhin ordered his men to stop.
The Russian President has accused Yevgeny Prigozhin of “treason” after his group rebelled against Russian forces.