Yevgeny Prigozhin
Yevgeny Viktorovich Prigozhin was a Russian mercenary leader and oligarch. He led the Wagner Group, a private military company, and was a close confidant of Russian president Vladimir Putin until launching a rebellion in June 2023. Prigozhin was sometimes referred to as "Putin's chef" because he owned restaurants and catering businesses that provided services to the Kremlin. Once a convict in the Soviet Union, Prigozhin controlled a network of influential companies whose operations, according to a 2020 investigation, were "tightly integrated with Russia's Defence Ministry and its intelligence arm, the GRU".
Some of the key events about Yevgeny Prigozhin
- 1979Completed training as a ski instructor and cross-country skiing trainer
- 1981Graduated from a chemical-pharmaceutical school in Leningrad
- 1981Convicted of robbery and fraud, sentenced to 12 years in prison
- 1988Convicted of involvement in prostitution, received a suspended sentence
- 1990Opened a hot dog stand in St. Petersburg, which became successful
- 1995Established a chain of convenience stores in St. Petersburg
- 1997Co-founded Concord Catering, which became a major catering company in Russia
- 2009Opened a luxury restaurant called New Island on a boat in St. Petersburg
- 2010Secured a large contract to provide food services for Moscow schools
- 2012Won a contract worth $1.2 billion to feed the Russian army
- 2014Founded the Internet Research Agency, which became a significant online influence operation
- 2014Sanctioned by the United States for involvement in the Russian military intervention in Ukraine
- 2016Accused of funding and organizing the Internet Research Agency, a troll farm engaged in online influence operations
- 2018Indicted by U.S. Special Counsel Robert Mueller for alleged interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election
- 2019Sanctioned by the European Union for supporting Russian military operations in Libya
- 2020Placed on the FBI's Most Wanted list for alleged election interference
- 2022Publicly acknowledged founding the Wagner Group, a private military company
- 2022Admitted to interfering in U.S. elections and pledged to continue doing so
- 2023Led a short-lived armed rebellion against Russian military leadership
- 2023Presumed dead in a plane crash, amid speculation of foul play
Disclaimer: This material is written based on information taken from open sources, including Wikipedia, news media, podcasts, and other public sources.
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