Yevgeny Prigozhin
Yevgeny Viktorovich Prigozhin (1 June 1961 – 23 August 2023) was the leader of the Wagner Group and a Russian oligarch. He was also a close confidant of Russian president Vladimir Putin until he launched an alleged coup in June 2023.
| Yevgeny Prigozhin | |
|---|---|
 Prigozhin in 2010 | |
| Native name | Евгений Викторович Пригожин |
| Nickname | "Putin's chef" |
| Born | 1 June 1961 Leningrad, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union |
| Died | 23 August 2023 (aged 62) Tver Oblast, Russia |
| Allegiance | Russia |
| Commands held | Wagner Group |
| Battles/wars | |
| Awards | {{ubl|Hero of the Russian Federation|Hero of the Donetsk People's Republic|Hero of the Luhansk People's Republic}
Corrupt Person of The Year 2022 Order of the Republic (Sudan) Order of the Two Niles (Sudan) |
Prigozhin controls companies such as the Wagner Group, a Russian state-backed mercenary group operating in most notably Ukraine and Syria. He also controls three companies that were accused of interference in the 2016 and 2018 U.S. elections. Prigozhin denied any connection to Wagner, however, in September 2022, a video surfaced showing Prigozhin in a Mari El prison promising inmates freedom if they served six months with the Wagner Group.
Early life
Prigozhin was born in Leningrad on 1 June 1961, to Violetta Prigozhina, who raised him as a single mother.
Criminal charges
Prigozhin himself spent nine years as a convict in prisons in the Soviet Union.
Prigozhin and his companies face criminal charges in the United States, with the FBI is offering a reward of up to $250,000 for information leading to the arrest of Prigozhin.
2023 rebellion
On 23 June 2023, Prigozhin launched a rebellion against the Russian military leadership and announced he was moving his forces into Russia, capturing Rostov-on-Don before marching on Moscow.[1] A criminal case was raised against him but dropped on the same day. Prigozhin will go to Belarus as part of the negotiated settlement of his PMC's rebellion.[2]
Death
Prigozhin was killed in a plane crash on 23 August 2023, according to Russia’s emergency ministry. The flight was en route from Moscow to Saint Petersburg. All 10 people on board the plane died.[3]
BBC has told about a claim on social media that the jet that Prigozhin was in was shot down by Russian air defenses in the Tver Oblast.[4] His funeral was held on 29 August 2023.
Awards
He was awarded Hero of the Russian Federation in 2022.[5][6][7]
He was also awarded the 2022 Corrupt Person of the Year by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project.[8]
He was awarded Hero of the Donetsk Republic.
He was also awarded Hero of the Luhansk Republic.
He was awarded Sudan’s Order of the Republic.
He was also awarded Order of the Two Niles.
Yevgeny Prigozhin Media
Prigozhin (standing in background) hosted Russian President Putin and US President George W. Bush on his floating restaurant New Island in St. Petersburg on 25 May 2002.
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 Region Governor Valery Serdyukov, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, Concord factory director Yevgeny Prigozhin.
Bakhmut in April 2023. At the end of April, Prigozhin said that his forces were losing around 100 men a day.
Prigozhin was in a public feud with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu.
Yevgeny Viktorovich Prigozhin on the Internet Research Agency, United States indictment
"Yevgeny Prigozhin's expanding network" per US Treasury Department (2021)
Aircraft involved in the crash in which Prigozhin died
Makeshift memorial to Yevgeny Prigozhin and Dmitry Utkin in Moscow
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Related pages
References
- ↑ Trofimov, Yaroslav (23 June 2023). "Russia Issues Arrest Warrant for Wagner Chief on Charges of Mutiny" (in en-US). Wall Street Journal. . https://www.wsj.com/articles/ukraine-shoots-down-russian-cruise-missile-barrage-9d9da03a. Retrieved 24 June 2023.
- ↑ Chernova, Anna (24 June 2023). "Case against Prigozhin will be dropped and he will be sent to Belarus, Kremlin spokesperson says". CNN. Retrieved 24 June 2023.
- ↑ Seddon, Max (2023-08-23). "Yevgeny Prigozhin was passenger on crashed plane, Russian officials say". Financial Times. https://www.ft.com/content/812c9da3-80f2-4fe1-8fad-0b4441d1977a. Retrieved 2023-08-23.
- ↑ "Wagner boss Prigozhin killed in plane crash in Russia" (in en-GB). BBC News. 2023-08-23. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-66599733. Retrieved 2023-08-23.
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ 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. https://meduza.io/feature/2022/07/13/grubo-govorya-my-nachali-voynu. Retrieved 6 August 2022.
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ 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.