Russia ‘armed mutiny’: Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin’s long ties with Vladimir Putin, explained

Yevgeny Prigozhin, a longtime associate of Russian president Vladimir Putin, is at the centre of an “armed mutiny” in the country aimed at ousting the defence minister. Once a low-profile businessman, Prigozhin received global attention following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year. Prigozhin-owned private mercenary group, Wagner, has been fighting alongside the Russian army in Ukraine. However, the 62-year-old has now moved into his most dangerous role so far: preaching open rebellion against his country’s military leadership. For months, Prigozhin, a one-time felon, has been targeting the Russian military leadership, and, on Friday (23 June), he gave a call for an armed uprising to overthrow defence minister Sergei Shoigu. He urged Russians to join his “march to justice.” Without naming the Wagner chief, Putin addressed the nation today (24 June), terming the armed rebellion a “betrayal” and “treason”. “Personal interests have led to the betrayal of our country and the cause that our armed forces are fighting,” the Russian leader alleged. The situation is so grim that Russia’s security services have opened a criminal investigation and called for Prigozhin’s arrest. The country’s anti-terrorist committee has imposed a counter-terrorist regime in Moscow and the surrounding region. According to Tass news agency, the National Guard has tightened security at key facilities in Moscow, including government agencies and transport infrastructure. ‘Putin’s chef’ Both Prigozhin and Putin were born in Leningrad, now known as St. Petersburg. During the final years of the Soviet Union, Prigozhin served time in prison — 10 years by his own admission — although he does not say what it was for. Later, he went on to own a hot dog stand and then fancy restaurants drawing Putin’s interest. In his first term, the Russian leader took then-French president Jacques Chirac to dine at one of them. “Vladimir Putin saw how I built a business out of a kiosk, he saw that I don’t mind serving to the esteemed guests because they were my guests,” Prigozhin recalled in an interview published in 2011. His businesses expanded significantly to catering and providing school lunches.

In 2010, Putin helped open Prigozhin’s factory that was built on generous loans by a state bank.

In Moscow alone, his company Concord won millions of dollars in contracts to provide meals at public schools. He also organised catering for Kremlin events for several years — earning him the nickname “Putin’s chef” — and has provided catering and utility services to the Russian military. [caption id=“attachment_12784502” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Yevgeny Prigozhin with Vladimir Putin at Prigozhin’s restaurant outside Moscow in 2011. AP File Photo[/caption] In 2017, opposition figure and corruption fighter Alexei Navalny accused Prigozhin’s companies of breaking antitrust laws by bidding for some $387 million in defense ministry contracts. ALSO READ: Mutiny in Russia: What's going on? What does this mean for Vladimir Putin? The Wagner Group According to the United States, European Union and United Nations, Wagner mercenary group has involved itself in conflicts in countries across Africa in particular. Wagner fighters allegedly provide security for national leaders or warlords in exchange for lucrative payments, often including a share of gold or other natural resources. US officials say Russia may also be using Wagner’s work in Africa to support its war in Ukraine. In Ukraine, Prigozhin’s mercenaries have become a major force in the war. Even though the Russian troops faced setbacks on the battlefield, Wagner mercenaries seemed to make considerable progress. This includes Wagner fighters taking Bakhmut, the city where the bloodiest and longest battles have taken place. By last month, Wagner Group and Russian forces appeared to have largely won Bakhmut, a victory with strategically slight importance for Russia despite the cost in lives. Wagner Group’s reputation Western countries and United Nations experts have accused Wagner Group mercenaries of committing numerous human rights abuses throughout Africa, including in the Central African Republic, Libya and Mali. In December 2021, the European Union accused the group of “serious human rights abuses, including torture and extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions and killings,” and of carrying out “destabilising activities” in the Central African Republic, Libya, Syria and Ukraine. Some of the reported incidents stood out in their grisly brutality. [caption id=“attachment_12785292” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Yevgeny Prigozhin is at the centre of an armed uprising in Russia aimed at ousting the defence minister. Reuters File Photo[/caption] Last November, a video surfaced online that showed a former Wagner contractor getting beaten to death with a sledgehammer after he allegedly fled to the Ukrainian side and was recaptured. Despite public outrage and a stream of demands for an investigation, the Kremlin turned a blind eye to it. Feud with Russia’s generals In a video released last month, Prigozhin was seen standing next to the bodies of Wagner fighters. Poinitng to these bodies, Prigozhin launched an attack on Shoigu and chief of the Russian armed forces General Valery Gerasimov, saying: “These are someone’s fathers and someone’s sons”. “The scum that doesn’t give us ammunition will eat their guts in hell.” Amid criticism from the Wagner chief, Putin reaffirmed his trust in Gerasimov earlier this month, by putting him in direct charge of the Russian forces in Ukraine, a move that some observers also interpreted as an attempt to cut Prigozhin down to size.

Prigozhin somewhat toned down his harangues against the military leadership after that, but remained defiant.

Asked recently about a media comparison of him with Grigory Rasputin, a mystic who gained fatal influence over Russia’s last czar by claiming to have the power to cure his son’s hemophilia, Prigozhin snapped: “I don’t stop blood, but I spill blood of the enemies of our Motherland.” A ‘bad actor’ in the US Prigozhin earlier gained more limited attention in the US, when he and a dozen other Russian nationals and three Russian companies were charged in the US with operating a covert social media campaign aimed at fomenting discord ahead of Donald Trump’s 2016 election victory. They were indicted as part of special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian election interference. The US Treasury Department has sanctioned Prigozhin and associates repeatedly in connection with both his alleged election interference and his leadership of the Wagner Group. After the 2018 indictment, the RIA Novosti news agency quoted Prigozhin as saying, in a clearly sarcastic remark: “Americans are very impressionable people; they see what they want to see. I treat them with great respect. I’m not at all upset that I’m on this list. If they want to see the devil, let them see him.” Avoiding challenge to Putin As Prigozhin’s attacks on Russia’s conventional military for its way of conducting the Ukraine war grew, he continued to play a seemingly indispensable role in the Russian offensive, and appeared to suffer no retaliation from Putin for his criticism of Putin’s generals. Media reports at times suggested Prigozhin’s influence on Putin was growing and he was after a prominent political post. But analysts warned against overestimating his influence with Putin. “He’s not one of Putin’s close figures or a confidant,” said Mark Galeotti of University College, London, who specialises in Russian security affairs, speaking on his podcast “In Moscow’s Shadows.” “Prigozhin does what the Kremlin wants and does very well for himself in the process. But that’s the thing — he is part of the staff rather than part of the family,” Galeotti said. With inputs from Associated Press Read all the  Latest News,  Trending News,  Cricket News,  Bollywood News, India News and  Entertainment News here. Follow us on  Facebook,  Twitter and  Instagram.