From Wagner mercenary chief, Russian mutineer to 'Putin's chef': Here are many sides of Yevgeny Prigozhin
Also read: Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin death rumours: How World is reacting to Russian mercenary chief possible demise Prigozhin was convicted of robbery and assault in 1981, and sentenced to 12 years in prison. When he got out, he opened a restaurant business in St. Petersburg in the 1990s.
Putin was the city's deputy mayor at the time. Prigozhin used that connection to develop a catering business and won lucrative Russian government contracts that earned him the nickname “Putin's chef." He later expanded into other areas, including media and an infamous internet “troll factory" that led to his indictment in the U.S. for meddling in the 2016 presidential election.
Wagner was first seen in action in eastern Ukraine soon after a separatist conflict erupted there in April 2014, in the weeks following Russia's annexation of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula. At the time, Russia denied sending its own weapons and troops despite ample evidence to the contrary. The private Wagner army gave Moscow a degree of deniability.
Also read: Gadar 2 Box Office collection Day 13: Sunny Deol's blockbuster all set to cross ₹420 crore Wagner personnel also deployed to Syria, where Russia supported President Bashar Assad's government in a civil war. In Libya, they fought alongside forces of commander Khalifa Hifter. The group has also operated in the Central African Republic and Mali.
But it wasn't until September 2022 that Prigozhin acknowledged founding, leading and financing Wagner. By then, his mercenaries — including men he'd recruited in Russian prisons — were fighting and dying by scores in Ukraine, especially in the shattered town of Bakhmut. Reputation for Ruthlessness Prigozhin fostered Wagner's reputation for ruthlessness, and the
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