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Who Is Prigozhin, the Wagner Leader Russia Accused of Mounting a Coup?

Yevgeny V. Prigozhin grew to become wealthy by his private ties to President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, profitable profitable catering and building contracts with the Russian authorities whereas constructing a mercenary pressure referred to as Wagner.

After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, he threw his fighters into the fray, as their ranks swelled with prisoner recruits. In latest months, Mr. Prigozhin (pronounced pree-GOH-zhin) has additionally emerged as a public energy participant, utilizing social media to show robust discuss and brutality into his private model. At the similar time, although, he started launching accusations at Russia’s army management, blaming it for failing to supply his forces with sufficient ammunition and ignoring troopers’ struggles.

But till Friday — when Russian generals accused Mr. Prigozhin of mounting a coup — Mr. Putin had not checked Mr. Prigozhin’s on-line accusations, regardless of jailing or fining many different critics of the struggle.

Spewing vulgarities, disregarding the legislation and displaying loyalty to nobody however Mr. Putin, Mr. Prigozhin, a businessman referred to as “Putin’s chef” as a result of of his catering contracts with the Kremlin and Russian army, has develop into a image of wartime Russia: ruthless, shameless and lawless. It was a important turnabout for Mr. Prigozhin, who acknowledged solely final fall that he had based Wagner.

In Moscow, he has been dogged by open questions and criticism, with analysts expressing doubts that his recruitment of prisoners and endorsement of extrajudicial executions had broad attraction.

Mr. Prigozhin expanded Wagner’s presence in Ukraine after the Kremlin’s try to seize Kyiv, the capital, failed in the preliminary days of its invasion early final yr. The “private military company” was at that time largely energetic in Syria and Africa, the place it operated each on behalf of the Russian authorities and in the service of Mr. Prigozhin’s personal enterprise pursuits.

He was additionally energetic elsewhere. In February 2018, Mr. Prigozhin was one of 13 Russians indicted by a federal grand jury for interfering in the American election by the Internet Research Agency, a troll manufacturing facility that unfold falsehoods and waged data warfare towards the United States, in assist of the presidential marketing campaign of Donald J. Trump.

The United States imposed sanctions towards Mr. Prigozhin in December 2016.

Born in 1961 when St. Petersburg was known as Leningrad, Mr. Prigozhin was despatched to jail in 1981 for theft and different crimes, in line with Meduza, a web based investigative publication.

After serving his nine-year sentence, he opened a hot-dog stand, ultimately resulting in an entrepreneurial profession beginning eating places and comfort shops.

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