A high-profile, provocative mercenary chief with a penchant for trolling media outlets, Prigozhin has led the non-public Wagner Group’s involvement in Russia’s battle of aggression in opposition to Ukraine. His historical past with management in Moscow dates again many years.
What is the Wagner Group?
The Wagner Group is a company of militant mercenaries which have labored alongside the Russian military through the nation’s invasion of Ukraine. Wagner’s early origins look like in 2014, when battle broke out between Ukraine and Russia over the Crimean area. Prigozhin said on social media that he sought to construct a bunch of fighters that would defend Russian pursuits within the area. The group has been tied to conflicts in Libya, Syria and several other different African nations.
The paramilitary pressure has seen explosive growth through the Ukraine battle, with tens of hundreds of fighters now below its management. As chief of the Wagner Group all through the battle, Prigozhin has often clashed with Russian navy leaders. He has printed movies that contradict the Russian narrative of a easy navy operation. He usually argues that his forces have led the struggle in Ukraine, whereas questioning the competency of the Russian navy. In May, he recorded a video alongside uniformed useless our bodies, cursing leaders for a scarcity of preparedness.
What is Prigozhin’s relationship with Putin?
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Prigozhin share the identical hometown, St. Petersburg (then Leningrad). While Putin rose from KGB insider to Russian chief, Prigozhin served a decadelong prison sentence beginning in his teenage years earlier than beginning a hot-dog stand.
He shortly started racking up clout within the hospitality business earlier than gaining Putin’s consideration. By the time Putin was on the highest echelons of the Russian authorities, Prigozhin was serving to serve his state dinners — like one held in 2006 with then-President George W. Bush — incomes him the nickname of “Putin’s chef.”
Putin helped Prigozhin open a school-lunch manufacturing facility on beneficiant state-funded loans. Prigozhin additionally owned not less than a part of Concord Management and Consulting, the agency that Justice Department officers suspected of bankrolling online, pro-Trump trolling operations through the 2016 election.
Why did Prigozhin do what he simply did?
In a critical video posted to Russian social media app Telegram on Friday, Prigozhin chastised the nation’s management for beginning the battle and stated that Ukrainian forces have been efficiently pushing again the Russian military. The battle blew up afterward Friday, as Prigozhin claimed that Russian navy leaders had ordered strikes on his males, killing hundreds of them.
“The war was needed for a bunch of scumbags to triumph and show how strong of an army they are,” Prigozhin stated Friday, speculating that the hassle was a part of the protection minister’s plan to get promoted.
How has Russia responded?
Prigozhin’s phrases instantly met sharp backlash and criticism from Russian state officers, who launched a criminal probe into Prigozhin. One Russian navy chief warned that the occasions represented a “state coup.” “Prigozhin’s statement and actions are actually the calls for the beginning of an armed civil conflict on the territory of Russia,” state officers stated.
What do the occasions imply for Russia?
In a navy entrance already marked by confusion and mismanagement, Wagner’s turning on the Russian navy management spells even additional issues for the nation’s battle effort. The transfer may additionally have an effect on the energy of Putin’s regime at dwelling by way of public assist for the battle effort. The mobilization of a whole lot of hundreds of younger males has been heavily criticized because the battle’s starting. A Russian information company reported that police forces have been working to secure government buildings in Moscow early Saturday after information of Prigozhin’s statements broke.
What do the occasions imply for Ukraine?
American officers are carefully watching the state of affairs, in response to the NSC. Ukraine is conducting a counter-offensive in opposition to Russian forces. With funding for future American aid to the country in question, a profitable Ukrainian offensive in opposition to the Russians may assist enhance U.S. home assist for the battle.
