By Brian Okoth
Yevgeny Prigozhin controlled a parallel army of irregular soldiers, who wielded immense power in Russia and beyond.
Besides the Russian military, Prigozhin’s mercenary group, Wagner, was the other skilled outfit fighting on behalf of Russia in Ukraine.
In late June, Prigozhin’s men hogged news headlines worldwide when they attempted a mutiny against Russian President Vladimir Putin’s administration.
They accused key officials in Putin’s government of mistreating the Wagner fighters in Ukraine.
The mercenary group laid down their weapons in Ukraine and began marching to Moscow, a moment that stoked tensions in Russia.
March stopped
With 200 kilometres left to access Moscow, Prigozhin would announce that his group had rescinded the decision to stage a mutiny against Putin after the Russian leader intervened and pledged to look into Wagner fighters’ welfare.
Reports suggested that a deal had been hatched for Prigozhin to relocate to the neighbouring Belarus. Russian media reported that he subsequently operated from Minsk, Belarus’s capital.
He would, occasionally, make it to news headlines when his audio or video clips would surface on social media.
In the undated clips, he would be heard motivating his soldiers to fight on and show their relevance to the world.
In July, a video of Prigozhin emerged showing him telling his troops to plan a “new journey to Africa.”
Death
And, it is in Africa that his last public appearance was recorded before his death on Wednesday. The Russian Civil Aviation Authority said on August 23 that Prigozhin died in a jet crash alongside nine other people.
On Tuesday, August 22, his video clip, while in Mali, was posted online.
He said Wagner was conducting reconnaissance and search operations and “making Russia even greater on all continents, and Africa even more free.”
In Africa, Wagner group is said to have a significant presence in the Central African Republic (CAR), Mali and Sudan.
The group reportedly sustains itself from offering protection in exchange for money or valuable commodities such as gold and diamond deposits. In some instances, it engages in commercial trade with governments.
Unconfirmed estimates indicate that Wagner group makes nearly $3 billion from forestry-related businesses and gold mining in the Central African Republic (CAR), where the group’s presence is pronounced.
Ex-convict
Prigozhin founded Wagner group in 2014, making it the first and largest state-linked business of private military contractors operating outside Russia.
Little is known about Prigozhin’s private life. Russian media reports say he spent most of his twenties in jail.
He served nine years in prison for robbery, fraud and involving teenagers in criminal activities. He was released in the early 1990s. He, thereafter, set up a hot-dog stall in the northwestern Russian city of Saint Petersburg, President Putin’s hometown.
He, thereafter, expanded his eatery business. He opened the New Island floating restaurant, which Putin, the then-deputy mayor of Saint Petersburg, visited regularly.
Prigozhin’s networking skills saw key Russian government figures award him lucrative catering contracts. He would serve schools, hospitals and the army.
His relationship with Putin blossomed even more, earning him the nickname “Putin’s Chef.”
Business deals
In 2010, Putin helped the business-oriented Prigozhin to open a factory that was reportedly built on loans by a state bank.
In Moscow alone, Prigozhin’s company, Concord, won millions of dollars in contracts to provide meals at public schools. He also provided catering services for the Kremlin.
His relationship with Putin was spotlighted in 2017, when opposition politician Alexei Navalny accused Prigozhin's companies of breaking antitrust laws by bidding for some $387 million in defence ministry contracts.
Foreign nations, including the United States, were uncomfortable with Prigozhin’s operations, especially the soldiers-for-hire Wagner business that he ran.
The Wagner group has been accused of, among others, manipulating electoral outcome in developing countries in Africa.
Prigozhin was born on June 1, 1961, in Leningrad, northwestern Russia. He is survived by a widow, Lyubov Prigozhina, and two adult children.
