Who is Yevgeny Prigozhin? Oligarch, Mercenary leader, and former close confidant of Russian president Vladimir Putin
By: Iain Fraser - GEO´ Associate Publisher
GEOPoliticalMatters.com
Tactical Geopolitical Intelligence
6th July 2023
Who is Yevgeny Prigozhin?
You would have had to have been in a cave for the past eighteenth months if you haven't heard of Yevgeny Prigozhin? He is the maverick Mercenary Leader of the once acclaimed Wagner Group a band of die-hard privateers who would work for the highest bidder, and for years that has been Russian President Vladimir Putin; but first, we need to understand this "unholy" alliance, we need to look deeper into the murky waters where Wagner Group types swim.
Yevgeny Prigozhin´s Wikipedia Bio describes him as an Russian oligarch, mercenary leader, and former close confidant of Russian president Vladimir Putin (poignantly even Wikipedia has changed Prigozhin´s relationship with Putin to "former confident" which really doesn't bode well for the one time chef.)
060723 AT 11.11 CET: BREAKING: Russian mercenary leader in Moscow
Who are the Wagner Group
Historically the Russian government has found Private military companies to be useful as a way to extend its influence overseas without the visibility and intrusiveness of state military forces. As a result, Wagner should be considered a proxy organization of the Russian state rather than a private company selling services on the open market.1
Putin's Private Army
The Wagner Group has managed so far to operate on behalf of the Kremlin in Africa, Syria and now have been the only credible military group in their Paymasters illegal invasion of Ukraine as the regular Russian military just haven't been up to snuff.
In "Corporate" Terms The Wagner Group is a Russian Private Military Company (PMC) and to all appearances may appear to be a conventional business company. However, its management and operations are deeply intertwined with the Russian military and its far-reaching intelligence agencies (FSB; GRU Etc.)
However a highly credible source has told GEO´ that Wagner and/or Prigozhin work exclusively to the beck and call of Vladimir Putin - not for Russia, the Russian Military or even the Kremlin but like all hyenas he turned round and bit the hand that fed him - literally Billions of Dollars
Conclusion
Seen as the greatest challenge to Russian President Vladimir Putin in his more than two decades in power ended up a damp squab after the rebellious mercenary commander who initially ordered his troops to march on Moscow, abruptly reached a deal with the Kremlin to go into exile and sounded the retreat.
However it is the same Lukashenko who announced this morning that "Russian mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin was no longer in Belarus.
Exactly what the fate of the former confident will be is anybody's guess right now-Under the deal brokered by Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko, Prigozhin would go to neighbouring Belarus, which has supported Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Charges against him of mounting an armed rebellion were supposed to have been dropped according to Putin to "Save Bloodshed" but will they be now he is within the reach of the desperate Despot.
Putin doesn't like disloyalty let alone betrayal. He´s not in it to make friends, he has proved this time and time again e.g. to name a few
1. Alaxandr Litvikienko - Poised with Polonium 210 in London, UK Died 2006
2. Sergei Skripal - Poisoned by Novichok in Salisbury 2018, UK Survived!
3. Yulia Skripal - Poisoned by Novichok in Salisbury 2018, UK Survived!
4. Boris Berezovsky - "Murdered by Assailants Unknown" (OV) in Sunnighaill UK Died 2013
5. Nikolai Glushkov - "Made to look like suicide" in London, UK Died 2021
Image Credit: Chic Bee
