Evgeny Prigozhin, born on June 1, 1961, in St. Petersburg, is a Russian entrepreneur with a controversial past. He started his career with a criminal record, serving time for theft and fraud in his early twenties. However, he was pardoned in 1988 and released from prison in 1990, according to tengrinews.kz
In 1990, Prigozhin established a hot dog sales network in St. Petersburg, followed by a chain of supermarkets. By 1996, he opened an upscale restaurant called "Stara Tamozhnya" (Old Customs House) and quickly earned his first million dollars by the end of the year.
In spring 1998, Prigozhin launched a floating restaurant called New Island, which gained recognition when it hosted dinners for world leaders such as Presidents Vladimir Putin and Jacques Chirac in 2001 and President George W. Bush in May 2002. Prigozhin was referred to as "Putin's chef" by the media, although he denied this nickname in a May 23, 2023 interview.
Prigozhin's alleged involvement with the private military company "Wagner" came to light in 2014 when Ukrainian intelligence agencies identified Wagner fighters in the Donbass region. Initially, Wagner was led by a Russian special forces officer named Dmitry Utkin, known by the codename "Wagner." Later, it was revealed that Utkin had joined Prigozhin's restaurant business.
Until 2022, Prigozhin denied any affiliation with Wagner, even filing a lawsuit against the editor-in-chief of "Echo of Moscow" for calling him the organization's "owner" during a radio broadcast. However, in September 2022, Prigozhin admitted to leading the Wagner, explaining his previous denials as an attempt to protect other members. The sources of Wagner's funding remain undisclosed.
The conflict between Evgeny Prigozhin and the Russian Ministry of Defense arises from their differences and disagreements.
Evgeny Prigozhin, a frequent critic of Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, has accused him of inept leadership.
According to the BBC's Russian service, Prigozhin's clash with the Ministry of Defense began on May 17, when mercenaries encountered military personnel planting mines on roads in Opytnoye and Ozaryivka. While demining a road in Semigorivka, the mercenaries claim they were fired upon by Defense Ministry forces.
Prigozhin's press service reported that a service vehicle was disabled by enemy fire, but no personnel were harmed. The mercenaries regrouped and took retaliatory measures to counter the aggression and apprehend the attackers.
A subsequent video released by Prigozhin's press service showed his fighters capturing Lieutenant Colonel Roman Venevitin, a Russian Army officer who admitted to shooting at a Wagner Company vehicle while under the influence of alcohol. However, no official response from the Russian government has been made regarding this incident of armed abduction.
In a video address, Prigozhin criticized the Ministry of Defense, claiming they were misleading the public and the President by falsely portraying Ukraine as the aggressor and fabricating reasons for their actions.
Overall, Prigozhin's conflict with the Russian Ministry of Defense involves allegations of military misconduct, retaliatory measures, and an ongoing dispute over the true motivations behind the incident.
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