Is Yevgeny Prigozhin’s son poised to take over Wagner?

Yevgeny Prigozhin’s son Pavel is seemingly poised to take over the Wagner Group, according to several media reports. Prigozhin, who led a brief armed rebellion against the Russian military earlier this year, died in a plane crash north of Moscow in August which killed all 10 people on board. But what do we know about Pavel? Let’s take a closer look: Pavel is 25 years old. As per The Independent, as per a photograph purportedly of Prigozhin’s will, Pavel is seemingly set to inherit most of his father’s fortune including the Wagner Group, properties, and $120 million. The will was initially shared on Telegram and came to light on social media.

As per The Times, the will dated 2 March lists Pavel as Prigozhin’s beneficiary.

“All my property… as well as property that may be acquired by me in the future I bequeath to Pavel Evgenyevich Prigozhin,” the document states, according to the newspaper. As per The Independent, Prigozhin left Pavel a home in St Petersburg, nine joint stock companies, shares in Concord as well as his catering business. Prigozhin was famously known as ‘Putin’s chef’. [caption id=“attachment_13033392” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Until June, Yevgeny Prigozhin shared a very close relationship with Vladimir Putin. AP[/caption] The newspaper quoted corporate filings as saying that Pavel controls a business called Lakhta Plaza. This firm was sanctioned by the US in March 2022. It also has the same auditor and telephone number of other Russian businesses thought to be fronts for the Wagner Group. Pavel, his mother Lyubov and elder sister Polina, already “play various roles in Prigozhin’s business enterprises,” as per Financial Times. These organisations prosper from Pavel’s “favoured status within Russia’s elite.” This will only adds to Pavel’s already considerable fortune. As per The Independent, Pavel already owns several businesses and luxury real estate complexes in St Petersburg. Pavel has been sanctioned by numerous nations including Canada, the US and the UK. What happens to Wagner Group? As per the Institute of Study for War, Pavel is thought to be in negotiations with Rosgvardia – the Russian national guard – with regard to the mercenary group possibly rejoining the war with Ukraine. A Wagner-affiliated source told the US think-tank that Wagner mercenaries would not need to sign contracts with Russia’s defence ministry under the terms of a possible agreement. The group would also keep its name, symbols, ideology, commanders, management, and existing standard operating principles.

An insider source claimed Pavel is not acting of his own accord, but is under the way of Mikhail Vatanin – the head of Wagner’s Security Service.

The ISW also mentioned that “some Wagner personnel are interested in rallying around a Prigozhin-linked alternative to the Kremlin- and MoD-aligned Troshev.” A Russian military blogger in September claimed Rosgvardia chief Viktor Zolotov met Pavel and Wagner commander Anton Yelizarov to discuss the ‘preservation’ of the group. A different source told ISW that the Rosgvardia chief is considering letting Wagner forces join as a separate unit – however there is as yet no clarity on how this would work. Pavel and his grandmother Violetta on Sunday laid flowers at Prigozhin’s St Petersburg grave, as per The Independent. Russian authorities in August confirmed Prigozhin’s death via genetic testing. The crash’s timing raised suspicions of a possible Kremlin-orchestrated hit, while Prigozhin’s chameleon-like background allowed for speculation that he wasn’t on the plane or had somehow escaped death. Two months ago, Prigozhin, 62, mounted a daylong mutiny against Russia’s military, leading his mercenaries from Ukraine toward Moscow. Russian president Vladimir Putin decried the act as “treason” and vowed punishment for those involved. [caption id=“attachment_13058372” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] A view shows the grave of Russian mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, who was killed in a plane crash. Reuters[/caption] Instead, the Kremlin quickly cut a deal with Prigozhin to end the armed revolt, saying he would be allowed to walk free without facing any charges and to resettle in Belarus. Questions remained about whether the former ally of Russia’s leader would face a comeuppance for the brief uprising that posed the biggest challenge to Putin’s authority of his 23-year rule. A preliminary US intelligence assessment concluded that an intentional explosion caused the plane to go down. As suspicions grew that the Russian president was the architect of an assassination, the Kremlin rejected them as a “complete lie.” One of the Western officials who described the initial assessment said it determined that Prigozhin was “very likely” targeted and that an explosion would be in line with Putin’s “long history of trying to silence his critics.” Prigozhin’s second-in-command, Dmitry Utkin, as well as Wagner logistics mastermind Valery Chekalov, also were killed in the crash. Utkin was long believed to have founded Wagner and baptized the group with his nom de guerre. The fate of Wagner, which until recently played a prominent role in Russia’s military campaign in Ukraine and was involved in a number of African and Middle Eastern countries, remains uncertain. With inputs from agencies