Who is Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin? From Putin’s chef to his ‘No1 enemy’: Warlord’s rise to power as head of mercenary army before mounting failed coup in wrangle with Kremlin over Ukraine war
Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin is feared dead tonight after reports that a plane he and nine other people were on crashed and caught fire in Russia.
Shocking video footage shows the plane falling from the sky in the Bologovsky district of the Tver region, with unconfirmed footage showing what appears to be a plane on fire.
The reported death comes just two months later Prigozhin’s failed coup attempt against Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The standoff had been going on for months, with Prigozhin claiming he would take whatever steps were necessary to overthrow the country’s military leadership, adding that his troops had “crossed state lines” and were ready to “do anything.” destroy what stands in the way’.
While Prigozhin has recently been seen as Putin’s enemy number one, not so long ago he was considered a close ally of the Kremlin.
The 62-year-old had made his huge fortune by providing catering services to the Kremlin, earning him the nickname ‘Putin’s chef’.
Yevgeny Prigozhin was once considered a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin and was known by the nickname “Putin’s Chef.” Pictured: Prigozhin serving food to Putin in 2011
The Wagner chief is feared tonight after a business jet believed to have had him on board crashed in Russia’s Tver region
Russian social media, linked to the state, leaks photos of Yevgeny Prigozhin, wearing wigs in various foreign locations
Born in 1961 in Leningrad, now Saint Petersburg, in the Soviet Union, Prigozhin spent part of his early life in prison after being convicted of theft and fraud.
After being released from prison in 1990 after nine years of imprisonment, Prigozhin began selling hot dogs at the flea markets of his hometown. He told the New York Times in 2018, “the rubles were piling up faster than his mother could count them.” And when the Soviet Union fell, Prigozhin founded several companies.
After involvement in a grocery business and then a gambling business, Prigozhin later became a restaurateur. Following the success of several outlets, Prigozhin began earning lucrative Kremlin catering contracts with the Russian elite.
This brought him to the forefront of Russian politics and signaled his growing ambitions.
He eventually grew close to Putin himself and is said to have received hundreds of millions in government contracts for feeding schoolchildren and government employees.
These contracts, some of which later involved the military, are believed to have led him to found the Wager mercenary group, although information about its exact origins is scarce.
Prigozhin had long denied any association with Wagner and threatened to sue journalists who reported on his involvement with the group.
The group gained a reputation for doing the Russian military’s dirty work, leaving a trail of brutal violence, rape and war crimes. Years after the group was first founded, the Russian government refused to even acknowledge the group’s existence.
Russian social media, linked to the state, leaks photos of Yevgeny Prigozhin, wearing wigs in various foreign locations
Images shared online show how the plane, believed to be the Russian chief on board, fell to the ground as it crashed in Russia’s Tver region
Witnesses to the crash heard a loud bang before seeing the plane ‘fall out of the sky’ – local residents are sharing this footage of the aftermath on social media, although it is currently unconfirmed if this is the plane
Wagner’s first deployment was in 2014 on the front lines in eastern Ukraine, helping Russian-backed separatist groups fight the country’s new government following a 2013 revolution that toppled the Kremlin-friendly president.
They have since gone to Libya – where they fought for warlord Khalifa Haftar against the Western-backed Government of National Accord – and Syria, along with the forces of dictator Bashar al-Assad.
They have also been deployed to the Central African Republic, where they have been accused of rape, robbery and torture of unarmed civilians, and are currently deployed to Mali, where they are accused of massacring civilians.
Until June, Prigozhin’s tirades against the military leadership were met with silence by Putin and the military. Some saw the inability to quell infighting as a sign of possible shifts on the Russian political scene, paving the way for more internal strife.
A video Prigozhin released in May seemed to fuel some of the disagreements between the army and the militia – not only because of what it showed, but also because of what the Wagner boss said.
It was initially unknown whether Wagner chief Prigozhin (pictured in a video reportedly filmed in Africa and released Monday) — known as the Wagner chief and with longstanding ties to the Kremlin dictator — was on board.
It was claimed that a video showed the plane flying in the Tver region before crashing to the ground (right)
He stood before the bloodied bodies of his slain troops near Bakhmut, in eastern Ukraine, shouting profanity-laden insults at Shoigu and the Chief of the General Staff, General Valery Gerasimov. He called them weak and incompetent and blamed them for the carnage.
“They came here as volunteers and they died for you to lounge in your mahogany office,” Prigozhin explained. “You’re in your expensive clubs, your kids enjoying the good life and making videos on YouTube. Those who don’t give us ammunition will be eaten alive in hell!’
Prigozhin continued to launch verbal attacks against the Russian president before the conflict came to a head on June 23 and he sent 25,000 troops towards Moscow.
After taking the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don, the army marched north for several hours, forcing the capital to lock down before an agreement was reached between it and the government.
The mutiny was ended through negotiations and an apparent agreement with the Kremlin, with Prigozhin agreeing to move to neighboring Belarus. But it seemed that after the deal he could still move freely within Russia.
Prigozhin, who had attempted to overthrow Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov, had posted a video speech on Monday that he suggested was recorded in Africa — but the date of the recording is unknown.