Draft:Yevgeny Prigozhin

From RationalWiki
Jump to navigation Jump to search
Information icon.svg This is a draft that anyone is free to edit as they would a mainspace page.

Do not add categories to draft pages; use {{draft categories}} instead for a view.

Contributors should nominate draft articles for deletion only if they believe that the article is not applicable to RationalWiki's mission.

Articles involving living persons must conform to our guidelines on biographies of living people.

Prigozhin.
RationalWiki's Chilling Tales of True
Crime
Crime icon.png
Articles on illegal behaviour
Busted
Lookin' fly.

Yevgeny Prigozhin (1961–2023) was a Russian oligarch and founder and commander of the Wagner Group. He was an important figure in the Russo-Ukrainian war as he led and directed Wagner forces into the battlefields of Ukraine and committed massive amounts of war crimes and human rights violations.[1]

From hot dog vendor to oligarch warlord[edit]

Prigozhin started out his career as a humble hot dog vendor in Saint Petersburg (then known as Leningrad before the collapse of the Soviet Union). Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, in 1995 he decided to pursue founding businesses to gain prominence and grow his monetary influence (much like every other oligarch was doing during the time).[2] He eventually was known as "Putin’s chef" for serving Putin at his restaurant, but this was a misnomer as he himself said in 2023 that he could not cook.[3]

Prigozhin then used his influence to become a significant member of the Russian oligarchy and an important and close ally of Putin within his inner circle. Putin often relied on Prigozhin’s military expertise to direct troops on the battlefields of various republics and countries that Wagner operated in.[4]

Death[edit]

Prigozhin was alleged dead on August 23, 2023, from a plane crash in Tver Oblast. He also allegedly died alongside Dmitry Utkin, another Wagner leader.[5] However, it was initially not confirmed due to the constant spread of misinformation surrounding his death. Eventually, after DNA tests were conducted on the bodies, it was confirmed to belong to Prigozhin, thus officially confirming his death.[6]

References[edit]