YEVGENY Prigozhin rose through the ranks to control Russia’s mercenary army before dying in a fireball jet crash.
A former gangster, his rise to power appears to have a lot to do with great ambition and a dark past conducted behind the scenes in the Kremlin while riding the waves of Putin’s favor to the top.
One of the most powerful men in Russia before his death, he commanded a private army of more than 50,000 men stationed in Ukraine alone and had a fortune estimated at millions, if not billions.
The paid killer group he founded in 2014 acts as a de facto militia in some of Ukraine’s bloodiest battles and is equivalent to the strength of a quarter of Russia’s entire army.
When Russia invaded Ukraine, Prigozhin came out of the shadows to wage war against Ukraine with his private military agency, taking the leading role in the bloody battle for Bakhmut.
But his relentless rise to the top began in 1981, in a courtroom in Leningrad, now Saint Petersburg.
Old criminal documents revealed that Prigozhin was accused of robbery and assault and sent to Soviet Russia’s penal colonies.
With the collapse of communism, he was released after serving nine years. Hardened and opportunistic, he began flogging hot dogs in the streets of a ruined St. Petersburg.
This venture led him to open a convenience store and eventually a chain of restaurants, while delving into the organized crime that plagues the city.
In 1996, Prigozhin ran a hugely successful restaurant, where one fateful day Putin would dine – earning the nickname “Putin’s chef”.
Soon after meeting President Putin in 2001, Prigozhin’s catering company began receiving lucrative state contracts to feed Russia’s schools and military.
It would be a friendship worth a billion rubles – one of the many advantages of proximity to Putin.
As his wealth accumulated, so did his luxurious lifestyle. He partied hard, bought a 121ft yacht and bought a property worth £105 million.
When he wasn’t traveling on a private jet, he was personally organizing Putin’s birthday parties.
Prigozhin’s extensive resume also includes alleged interference in the 2016 US elections by financing Russian troll farms that pump out propaganda.
For decades, Priogozhin was kept under the carpet – he was not allowed to hold official positions so he could carry out the Kremlin’s most criminal acts.
But he went on to lead the 50,000-man Wagner army, a sort of back-alley army for hire that was incredibly useful to Vlad during his brutal war.
Not only did he lend his men, but he also gave public support to the dictator’s grueling campaign to take over Ukraine.
He was highly critical of Russian official commanders who suffered heavy losses in battle.
And the tirades against Putin’s army officers, along with the success of his own troops, have earned him many enemies.
But as the war continued and Prigozhin became more powerful, his power made him dangerous.
Prigozhin’s attempted coup last June followed Nikolai Patrushev’s success in warning Putin about Chief Wagner.
Putin had been ignoring the warlord and the Kremlin was planning to withdraw its forces from Ukraine.
So Prigozhin unsuccessfully marched 25,000 men and tanks directly from the Ukrainian front lines to the southern Russian city of Rostov, where a military headquarters is based.
Although Alexander Lukashenko, President of Belarus, managed to broker a deal between Prigozhin and Russian leaders, it appears that the resulting peace was not profound.
This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story
