Yevgeny Prigozhin, who was once a hot-dog vendor and a long time associate of Russian President Vladimir Putin, now not only commands thousands of mercenaries who played a key role in the Ukraine invasion, but has also called an open rebellion against the country’s military.
A “stab in the back of the country and its people,” is what his long term patron, President Putin called the Wagner Group chief’s rebellion.
The 62-year-old Prigozhin who is the head of the Wagner Group on Saturday announced in a series of angry videos that they have seized all the military facilities in the southern city of Rostov-on-Don and called this a “march for justice.”
Who is Yevgeny Prigozhin?
Prigozhin is currently the chief of Kremlin-allied Wagner Group, who depicts himself as a mercenary fighting many of Russian military’s toughest battles in Ukraine and some other countries.
Wagner group has played a central role in Putin’s projection of the Russian influence across the world, especially in terms of hard power, according to Associated Press.
Prigozhin as also served in prison for at least 10 years during the final years of Soviet Union. It is not publically known why he was in jail.
Putin and Prigozhin
Putin and Prigozhin were both born in St. Petersburg and their connections go way back in time.
He then started owning a fancy restaurant, which reportedly drew interest from Putin.
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“Putin saw how I built a business out of a kiosk, he saw that I don’t mind serving to the esteemed guests because they were my guests,” Prigozhin said in an interview published in 2011, AP reported.
Priogozhin’s rise in power
After this, his businesses expanded exponentially and Putin helped in opening Prigozhin’s factory that was built on generous loans by a state bank.
In fact, he became the go to guy for caterings in all events of the Russian government, and people started calling him “Putin’s chef,” by 2010.
By 2014, he became the face of Wagner group that was allegedly engaged in a campaign of terrorism in Ukraine, along with Syria and the Central African Republic among others, AP said
After this, Prigozhin’s companies came in limelight for breaking laws and bidding some $387 million in Defense Ministry contracts in 2017, according to Opposition figure Alexei Navalny.
Prigozhin has taken an increasingly prominent role in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine — leading some to question if he might harbour personal political ambitions.
How much influence did Prigozhin have in Putin’s functioning?
Russian businessman and opposition activist said that Prigozhin’s influence was on a par with that of other senior ministers in the Kremlin due to his personal relationship with the leader.
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“The influence of Mr Prigozhin is approximately equal to the influence of Mr (Sergei Shoigu), minister of defence, or Mr (Sergei) Lavrov, foreign minister,” he said.
Prigozhin, he said, was close enough to Putin that he was even allowed to sign pardons on behalf of the president in order to allow him to recruit criminals from prisons “irrespective of the gravity of the crimes”.
What is the Wagner Group?
Amid all this, in 2014 Wagner group, governed by Prigozhin came to prominence for all the wrong reasons.
Wagner emerged in 2014 in Ukraine and is suspected by the West of doing the Kremlin’s dirty work in countries such as Syria and the Central African Republic, a charge Russia has always denied. Currently, the group remains active in Ukraine, Syria and some African countries, according to BBC.
It is alleged that the group is engaged in a campaign of terrorism” in Ukraine including murder, rape, the targeting of infrastructure and the planting of explosives around nuclear facilities.
Interestingly, mercenary forces are illegal in Russia, however the Wagner group is a registered organisation and its headquarters are in St Petersburg, BBC reported.
How many mercenaries are under Prigozhin?
Although several reports put 6,000 as the number of troops under the Wagner group, since 2014 their number has grown exponentially.
According to the UK Ministry of Defence, the Wagner group were now commanding 50,000 fighters in Ukraine, becoming a key component of the campaign here.
Critics see it as a shadow force controlled by Putin, used to promote Russian interests abroad by providing front-line fighters, trainers and advisors.
Why is Prigozhin in the lime light currently?
Prigozhin has been at odds with the Russian military in recent months, with openly accusing Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and Russia’s top general, Valery Gerasimov of “incompetence.” He questioned the official version of the country’s justification of invading Ukraine and has completely rejected why they did it.
Prigozhin posted a series of very angry videos in which he accused Russia’s military leaders of ordering rocket attacks on Wagner camps stationed in Ukraine and announced a rebellion against the top brass of Russian military.
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