Who is Yevgeny Prigozhin, Wagner Group leader accused of urging an ‘armed rebellion’ in Russia?

Yevgeny Prigozhin, the owner of private military contractor Wagner Group, marched his mercenary forces into the Russian city of Rostov-on-Don on Saturday as he called for an armed rebellion to depose Russia’s defense minister.

Prigozhin accused Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu of ordering a rocket strike against Wagner’s war camp in Ukraine, killing 2,000 of his soldiers in a number of video and audio recordings posted online Friday.

In response, Prigozhin said his forces would punish Shoigu, and urged Russian forces not to resist, threatening to “destroy” anyone who tries to stop them.

“Those who destroyed our lads, who destroyed the lives of many tens of thousands of Russian soldiers, will be punished. I ask that no one offer resistance…” he said in a recording of one of his notorious tirades.

“There are 25,000 of us, and we are going to figure out why chaos is happening in the country,” he said, promising to tackle any checkpoints or air forces that got in Wagner’s way.

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“We will consider anyone who tries to resist a threat and quickly destroy them,” he said.

The Defense Ministry denied carrying out the rocket attack, and Russian generals have accused Prigozhin of orchestrating a coup.

Prigozhin said Wagner faced no resistance when they crossed into Russia from Ukraine.

From ‘Putin’s chef’ to paramilitary leader

The 62-year-old millionaire has had a long-standing feud with the Ministry of Defense, whose leaders he’s openly criticized for months in foul-mouthed rants as incompetent and accused of withholding arms and ammunition from his troops, who are fighting on behalf of Russia in Ukraine.

Prigozhin began his career as a petty criminal — he was convicted of robbery and assault in 1981 and served 12 years in prison. After his release, he opened a restaurant in St. Petersburg in the 1990s, where he became friendly with the city’s then-Deputy Mayor and future Russian President Vladimir Putin. 

He used his relationship with Putin to secure lucrative government catering contracts and served meals in the Kremlin, earning him the nickname “Putin’s chef.”

He later expanded into media and was indicted in the United States for interfering in the 2016 presidential election through his infamous internet “troll factory.”

Prigozhin confirmed in January that he is the founder, leader and financier of Wagner.

What is the Wagner Group?

Wagner saw its first action in the separatist conflict in the Donbas region of Ukraine in 2014 after Russia annexed Crimea. Russia was able to deny sending any military personnel or supplies by hiring privately contracted fighters to do their dirty work.

Wagner quickly gained a reputation for its brutality across the globe.

Its forces fought in Syria alongside Russian-backed President Bashar Assad’s government in a civil war as well as other conflicts in Africa.

Prigozhin has reportedly used his deployment to secure mining contracts, which are then used to fund the war in Ukraine, US Under Secretary of State Victoria Nuland said in January.

Wagner has been accused of human rights abuses throughout Africa, including in the Central African Republic, Libya and Mali by Western countries and United Nations experts.

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Wagner Group’s role in Russia’s war in Ukraine

The company took a prominent role in the Ukraine war after the Russians suffered heavy losses and setbacks fighting Ukrainian forces, which are backed by Western allies.

Prigozhin toured Russian prisons to recruit Wagner fighters — offering to pardon their crimes if they served a half-month tour on the Ukrainian front lines.

In May, he boasted in an interview that he recruited 50,000 fighters — about 10,000 of which were killed during the grueling and bloody capture of the city of Bakhmut. The city has been Russia’s only major advance since the start of the war.

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Nearly half of the 20,000 Russian soldiers killed in Ukraine since December have been Wagner’s troops in Bakhmut.

The US estimates Wagner had about 50,000 personnel fighting in Ukraine, including 10,000 contractors and 40,000 convicts. 

Wagner Group is spending about $100 million a month fighting in Ukraine, according to US officials.

In December, Washington accused North Korea of supplying weapons to the Russian company in violation of UN Security Council resolutions.

Both Wagner and North Korea denied the reports.

With Russian presidential elections coming in 2024, many had speculated that Prigozhin would be Putin’s successor, should the longtime leader choose not to run for reelection.

With Post wires