![]() Prigozhin did not respond to a request for comment for this article. “A dog’s death for a dog,” Prigozhin said in a statement at the time. He appeared to tacitly endorse a video showing the murder, with a sledgehammer, of a Wagner defector who had apparently been handed back by the Ukrainians in a prisoner exchange. ![]() Prigozhin has earned a reputation as the cruellest commander among those leading Russia’s grim invasion. Its ranks have ballooned to about 50,000, according to western intelligence estimates, including tens of thousands of ex-prisoners recruited from jails around Russia, often personally by Prigozhin.Įarlier this month, as Prigozhin’s troops captured the Ukrainian town of Soledar, Moscow’s first territorial gain in the war since the summer, Prigozhin released a video lauding Wagner as “probably the most experienced army in the world today”. Since Putin’s decision last year to launch a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Wagner has refocused its activities on Russia’s neighbour again. Petersburg, Russia, Saturday, June 24, 2023. Servicemen and other people gather an office in the 'PMC Wagner Centre', which is associated with businessman and founder of the Wagner private military group Yevgeny Prigozhin, in St. Prigozhin’s army of contract fighters would come to be known as the Wagner group, and would see action in Ukraine, Syria and numerous African countries. In fact, the decisions taken that day would have an enormous impact on Russia’s foreign policy and its military adventures in the years to come. ![]() “At the time, I didn’t think much of the project,” said the former official. This account of the meeting, which has not previously been reported, was provided by a former high-ranking defence ministry official with direct knowledge of the discussions. “The orders come from Papa,” he told the defence officials, using a nickname for Vladimir Putin designed to emphasise his closeness to the president. Many in the ministry did not like Prigozhin’s manner, but he made it clear that this was no ordinary request.
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