From hotdog seller to ‘billionaire’: Who is Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin?
A hotdog seller
Prigozhin has been locked in a bitter months-long power struggle with the Defence Ministry as his ragtag forces spearheaded the costly battles for limited gains in eastern Ukraine.
He had earlier accused the Russian military of trying to “steal” victories from Wagner, and slammed Moscow’s “monstrous bureaucracy” for grinding progress on the ground.
He also directly blamed Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and other senior officials for his fighters’ deaths, claiming Moscow had not provided sufficient ammunition.
Unlike Russia’s generals, who have been criticised for shirking the battles, the stocky and bald Prigozhin regularly poses for pictures alongside mercenaries allegedly on the front lines.
While gaining public acclaim in Russia as Wagner spearheaded the capture of several key Ukrainian towns including Bakhmut, Prigozhin has also blasted what he says is systemic mismanagement and lying in the Russian Defence Ministry.
“The evil that the military leadership of the country brings must be stopped,” he said on Friday after claiming the Defence Ministry had launched strikes on Wagner bases.
Russia’s FSB security service responded by opening a criminal probe into calls to stage “an armed mutiny”, even though Prigozhin has assured Russians he was calling for “justice”, and “not a coup”.
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