Last Updated on 08/24/2023 by てんしょく飯
Prisoner, cook, restaurant entrepreneur, head of a private military company, and Russian conglomerate. All of these words can describe Mr. Prigozhin, who died in the August 24 crash of his private plane.
Mr. Prigozhin lost his life before he was decried through investigation and trial.
He was 62 years old and from St. Petersburg, the same city as President Putin. He was known as “Putin’s hound” and “Putin’s cook,” but he was also a “traitor” who led an armed insurrection.
The cause of his death is still unknown. Mr. Prigozhin’s side said his plane was brought down by Russian air defense systems. The West presumes that Mr. Putin was behind Mr. Prigozhin’s death in any way.
Prigozhin, who was jailed for nine years in 1981 for robbery, fraud, and other crimes, was released from prison in 1990 as the Soviet Union was collapsing, and after securing his principal income in the hot dog business, he opened upscale restaurants throughout Russia.
Prigogine became friends with President Vladimir Putin, a low-ranking official in St. Petersburg, who was a guest at the time. Eight years younger than Vladimir Putin, Prigogine took advantage of this opportunity to host various dinners and banquets at the Russian presidential administration and became known as “Putin’s chef. Putin enjoyed dining with key domestic and foreign guests at a restaurant run by Mr. Prigogine. On these occasions, Mr. Prigogine was by his side and took care of him.
Prigozhin began to earn Putin’s trust in earnest in 2014, when he founded the private military company Wagener Group.
The Wagner Group expanded its power by intervening on behalf of the Russian military in the war for the forced annexation of the Crimean Peninsula and in conflicts around the world, including Syria, Libya, and Sudan. The Wagner Group was notorious for atrocities, including massacres of civilians, which Prigogine denied. Mr. Putin was able to handle through the Wagner Group what the official police and military would have found difficult to do.
Mr. Prigozhin, who had been working in the shadows, made his public appearance last September, in the middle of the Ukrainian war. Mr. Prigogine issued a statement at the time, officially acknowledging for the first time the fact that he had founded the Wagner Group. Prigogine and the Wagner Group led the Russian offensive in Bakhmut, which was the scene of the most intense fighting in the Ukrainian war.
Western officials estimate that 50,000 Wagner Group fighters were deployed in the Ukrainian war, including 40,000 prisoners recruited from Russian prisons. Mr. Prigozhin’s power and fortune have grown to such an extent that he has been called an emerging Russian conglomerate.
Through social media (SNS), Prigogine has touted the success of the Wagner Group, accusing those in the military of being incompetent and uncooperative, causing discord with the military leadership.
In May, he even took aim at the military leadership, hurling such expletives as “scum of the earth” and “you will burn in hell.
In an effort to quell the situation, on June 10 Defense Minister Shoigu ordered all irregular forces to sign formal contracts with the Ministry of Defense, but this only served to amplify the conflict.
Refusing to sign another contract, Prigogine then launched an armed insurrection on June 23 and marched on the Russian mainland. At the time of the march, he was seen being welcomed by the Russian people. Prigozhin’s bitter criticism of the military and his many accomplishments in the war against Ukraine have earned him the status of war hero.
President Vladimir Putin characterized Prigozhin’s advance on Moscow as an act of treason and said, “We will deal with it harshly.
The armed insurgency ended 36 hours after Russia, through the mediation of Belarusian President Lukashenko, agreed not to punish Prigozhin and his fighters on condition that he withdraw to Belarus.
After receiving Putin’s promise of personal security, Prigozhin met with Putin five days after the armed rebellion and even appeared in St. Petersburg at the end of July, where the Russia-Africa Summit was held.
However, there was little doubt that Mr. Putin would eventually remove Mr. Prigozhin. This is because Putin has maintained his firm grip on power by eliminating political rivals and traitors.
On July 5, Russian state broadcaster Russia 1 reported that the investigation into Mr. Prigozhin was still ongoing after police special forces raided the office and home of a business owned by Mr. Prigozhin.
But like many of Putin’s opponents, Prigozhin also lost his life before he could be exonerated through investigation and trial.
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