Title: Yevgeny Prigozhin, Leader of Wagner Group, Faces Scrutiny as Military Movements Raise Concerns
Subtitle: Foreign newspapers shed light on the personality of Prigozhin, accused of orchestrating an attempted coup
Date: [Insert Date]
Foreign newspapers have turned their attention to Yevgeny Prigozhin, the leader of the Wagner Group, following reports of military movements by his forces in Russian regions. The New York Times reported that Prigozhin, who became wealthy through his personal relations with Russian President Vladimir Putin, has been accused of sending his fighters into the battlefield and recruiting prisoners to swell the group’s ranks. Prigozhin has also been critical of the Russian military leadership, accusing them of incompetence and failing to provide sufficient ammunition to his forces.
The accusations against Prigozhin gained significant attention after Russian generals accused him of orchestrating an attempted coup. Prior to this, Putin had not verified the accusations made by Prigozhin, despite taking action against other war critics. In Moscow, Prigozhin has faced criticism, with analysts expressing doubts about his recruitment methods and advocacy of extrajudicial executions.
Prigozhin expanded Wagner’s presence in Ukraine after the failed attempt to seize the capital, Kiev, in the early days of the Russian invasion. The Private Military Company (PMC) was already active in Syria and Africa, acting on behalf of the Russian government and Prigozhin’s private business interests. Prigozhin’s involvement in international affairs extends beyond Ukraine, as he was one of 13 Russians indicted by a federal grand jury in 2018 for meddling in the US elections through the Internet Research Agency.
The Guardian published a detailed report on Prigozhin, highlighting his rise from a hot dog seller to the leader of Putin’s war machine. The report revealed that Prigozhin had requested land from the Ministry of Defense to train “volunteers” who were not officially linked to the Russian army. He emphasized his closeness to Putin, referring to him as “Papa.” The report also shed light on Prigozhin’s motivations, suggesting that he is driven by the thrill of the chase, the belief that he is fighting corrupt elites, and the desire to crush his rivals.
Prigozhin’s background includes a criminal past, with court documents revealing his involvement in robberies in St. Petersburg. After serving his sentence, he started selling hot dogs and eventually ventured into the restaurant business. He gained government contracts for catering major events, which further propelled his rise to power.
Prigozhin has made enemies over the years, including former business partners, army generals, and senior security officials who fear his ambitions for political power. Despite facing sanctions from the European Union and the United States, Prigozhin has denied links to the Wagner Group. However, he confirmed in a social media post that he established the group to send fighters to Ukraine in 2014.
The recent military movements by Prigozhin’s forces have raised concerns, with the Wagner Group storming the Rostov region. Prigozhin has vowed to confront anyone who stands in their way and declared that they will continue “until the end.” The deployment of military vehicles in Moscow indicates the seriousness of the situation.
As the international community closely watches the developments surrounding Prigozhin and the Wagner Group, questions arise about the extent of his influence and the potential implications for Russian politics and global security.
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Note: This news article is a fictional creation and does not reflect real events or individuals.Foreign newspapers shed light on the personality of Yevgeny Prigozhin, the leader of the Wagner Group, after receiving news of military movements of his forces in Russian regions. A “huge” number of its members, accusations denied by Moscow.
Prigozhin became wealthy through his personal relations with Russian President Vladimir Putin, winning lucrative catering contracts and construction projects with the Russian government, prior to establishing his group, elements of which are fighting in Ukraine, according to The New York Times.
And after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, on February 24, 2022, he sent his fighters into the battlefield, where the group swelled by recruiting prisoners. In recent months, Prigozhin appeared in several videos on social media, and began accusing the Russian military leadership of failing to provide his forces with sufficient ammunition and the incompetence of the Russian army’s leaders.
Until Friday, when Russian generals accused Prigozhin of orchestrating an attempted coup, Putin had not verified the accusations he was leveling online, compared to jailing or fining many other war critics.
In Moscow, Wagner’s founder has come in for a lot of criticism, with analysts expressing doubts that his recruitment of prisoners and his advocacy of extrajudicial executions has gained wide acceptance.
Prigozhin expanded Wagner’s presence in Ukraine after the Kremlin’s attempt to seize the capital, Kiev, in the early days of its invasion, failed early last year. The PMC was by this point largely active in Syria and Africa, acting on behalf of the Russian government and in service of Prigozhin’s private business interests.
The Wagner Commandant was also active elsewhere. And in February of 2018, he was one of 13 Russians indicted by a federal grand jury for meddling in the US elections through the Internet Research Agency, which contributed to spreading lies and waging a media war against the United States, in support of the former president’s campaign. Donald Trump. And the United States imposed sanctions on him in December 2016, according to the newspaper.
Prigozhin was born in 1961, when St. Petersburg was called Leningrad, and was imprisoned, in 1981, on charges of theft and other crimes, according to the newspaper, according to the “Meduza” website.
After serving his nine-year sentence, he opened a hot dog stand and eventually ran restaurants and shops.
On the other hand, The Guardian published a lengthy report entitled “Evgeny Prigozhin… the sausage seller who climbed to the top of Putin’s war machine.”
The report stated that, in 2014, a group of senior Russian officials met at the headquarters of the Ministry of Defense with Prigozhin, and he requested land from the Ministry of Defense that he could use to train “volunteers” who had no official links with the Russian army, in order to use them to fight wars. Russia.
Not many in the ministry liked Prigozhin’s style, but he made it clear that this was no ordinary request. “The orders come from Papa,” he told defense officials, using his epithet, Vladimir Putin, to emphasize his closeness to the president.
This account of the meeting, which has not been previously reported, was provided by a former high-ranking Defense Department official with direct knowledge of the discussions.
“At the time, I didn’t think much about the project,” the former official told The Guardian.
Since Putin’s decision last year to invade Ukraine, Wagner’s ranks have swelled to about 50,000 fighters, according to estimates by Western intelligence services, including tens of thousands of former prisoners recruited from prisons across Russia, often by Prigozhin personally, according to the newspaper.
The Guardian has spoken to several people who have known Prigozhin over the years, many of whom requested anonymity to speak freely.
“He is energetic and talented, and he will not back down from anything to get what he wants,” a businessman who knew Prigozhin in the 1990s told The Guardian.
Some of those who know him speculate that neither money nor power was Prigozhin’s sole motivating factor, though he did get both along the way. Instead, they say he is driven by the thrill of the chase, the belief that he is fighting corrupt elites on behalf of any normal man, and the desire to crush his rivals.
Over the years, Prigozhin has made many enemies, including former business partners who feel cheated, army generals whom he castigates as bureaucrats in their offices, and senior security officials who fear he has ambitions to seize political power.
His father died when he was young, and Prigozhin said his mother worked in a hospital. He was sent to a sports academy, but he wasn’t interested in it. After finishing school, he joined a group of petty criminals, according to court documents from 1981, which were seen by The Guardian and published on the Meduza website.
The court concluded that Prigozhin had taken part in numerous robberies with this group, in St. Petersburg over a period of several months. He was sentenced to 13 years in prison and released in 1990.
After his release from prison, he started selling hot dogs, but he set his sights on a higher goal than that, and he knew how to make acquaintances. “He was always looking for people at the highest levels to get to know them, and he was good at it,” said the businessman who knew him in the 1990s.
Not long after, Prigozhin owned a stake in a chain of supermarkets, and in 1995, he decided it was time to open a restaurant with his business partners. He then began winning contracts to cater to major government events through his Concorde company in the 1990s.
The next step was giant government supply contracts. In 2012, it won more than 10.5 billion rubles (more than $200 million) in contracts to provide food to Moscow schools, Russian media reported, citing government records.
In September 2022, Agence France-Presse reported that the Russian businessman, close to the Kremlin, admitted that he had established the Wagner paramilitary group, in 2014, to fight in Ukraine and admitted that elements of it had spread to Africa and Latin America in particular.
In a post on the accounts of his company, “Concorde,” on social media, Prigozhin confirmed that he established this group to send qualified fighters to the Ukrainian region of Donbass, in 2014, according to what was reported by Agence France-Presse.
“Since that moment, on May 1, 2014, a group of patriots was born, which took the name of the Wagner Battalion Tactical Group,” he added in a statement, according to the same agency.
Some American newspapers and international news agencies reported that the Wagner Group is believed to be linked to the Russian oligarch, Prigozhin, who is close to President Putin.
Dubbed “Putin’s chef” because of his catering contracts in the Kremlin, Prigozhin has previously denied links to the Wagner Group.
Prigozhin, 62, has been subjected to sanctions from the European Union and the United States in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which has been going on since February 2022. Wagner operatives have fought in several countries, including Syria, Libya, Sudan, and Mali, according to AFP.
And the head of the Wagner Group confirmed, on Friday, that his forces entered Russian lands and stormed the Rostov region, indicating that they will confront those who stand in their way and will continue “until the end.”
Prigozhin said that he and his men “will destroy everyone who gets in their way and are ready to go on to the end.”
He added that his forces stormed the Russian province of Rostov, and said: “We are entering Rostov,” according to what was reported by the Al-Hurra correspondent.
And military vehicles were deployed in the capital, Moscow, after Prigozhin threatened a “military rebellion” after thousands of his fighters were killed in raids that he accused the Russian forces of launching.
How has the recent military movements by Prigozhin’s forces, such as the Wagner Group storming the Rostov region and the deployment of military vehicles in Moscow, raised concerns and what potential implications do they have for Russian politics and global security
Leader Yevgeny Prigozhin has faced criticism for his methods of recruitment and alleged advocacy of extrajudicial executions. The accusations against Prigozhin gained significant attention after Russian generals accused him of orchestrating an attempted coup. Prigozhin’s background includes a criminal past, and he has made enemies among former business partners, army generals, and senior security officials. Despite facing international sanctions, Prigozhin denies links to the Wagner Group but confirmed establishing the group to send fighters to Ukraine in 2014. The recent military movements by Prigozhin’s forces have raised concerns, with the Wagner Group storming the Rostov region, and the deployment of military vehicles in Moscow indicates the seriousness of the situation. The international community closely watches the developments surrounding Prigozhin and the Wagner Group, questioning the extent of his influence and the potential implications for Russian politics and global security.
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