Yevgeny Prigozhin: The former hot dog seller and thug who became Wagner boss at centre of mutiny
From flea market hot dog seller to the head of a mercenary group behind a mutiny against the Russian military, Yevgeny Prigozhin’s rise has been far from ordinary.
A former convict who spent much of his young life behind bars, he rose up to become close to Vladimir Putin.
He even earned himself the nickname “Putin’s chef” on account of his Kremlin-linked catering business.
Wagner troops seize city 300 miles from Moscow – Ukraine war latest
But the 62-year-old boss of the mercenary Wagner Group now stands accused of open rebellion against Russia by his close friend.
It is a situation some experts say has been a long time coming, particularly in light of Prigozhin’s incendiary remarks about Russia’s military leadership and his previous warning of a 1917-style rebellion.
But who is Prigozhin and how did we get to this point?
Crime and hot dogs
Born in 1961 in the city of Leningrad – now Saint Petersburg, Prigozhin had a difficult start in life, losing his father at a young age.
He turned to crime in his teenage years, initially theft, but quickly escalating into more serious crimes. He was jailed for 12 years, aged 20, in 1981 after being convicted of robbery and fraud.
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Putin accuses Prigozhin of treason
“Prigozhin is a former conman – he was a thug,” according to Samantha de Bendern from the Royal Institute of International Affairs.
“He was put in prison in the 1980s for basically assaulting a woman in the street. He spent quite a number of years in the Soviet Union’s penitentiary system,” she told Sky News.
Prigozhin was pardoned in 1988 and released in 1990, when he began selling hot dogs at a flea market in Leningrad with his mother and stepfather.
He left prison during perestroika and glasnost – the period in the 1990s when Russia was opening up to the world after years of isolation under communism.
‘Putin’s butcher’ and joining the elite
Prigozhin later founded, or become involved in, many new businesses and in the 2000s, he grew closer to Putin.
“He very quickly got onto the private property/private enterprise bandwagon and ended up being a hot dog seller,” Ms de Bendern told Sky News.
“And this is where things become very mysterious because he transformed himself from hot dog seller to restaurateur to the grand and great of the new post-Soviet Russian elite.”
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Putin and Prigozhin’s relationship explained
According to a New York Times article in 2018, Prigozhin said the “rubles were piling up faster than his mother could count them”.
His companies won lucrative government contracts, including providing school lunches, and in Moscow alone his company Concord won millions of dollars in deals.
Prigozhin eventually became the caterer to a number of Russian state concerns, including the army – a deal which jailed Putin critic Alexei Navalny claimed broke competition bidding rules.
He was also catered for a lot of state visits and met presidents and heads of state – including then-French president Jacques Chirac, who dined with Putin at one of his restaurants.
Prigozhin in May as he prepared to hand over Bakhmut to the regular Russian army
His catering background and his work for the Kremlin earned Prigozhin the nickname “Putin’s chef” – or sometimes “Putin’s butcher”.
Prigozhin addressed the nickname earlier this year and denied he was ever a chef, saying “butcher” was more accurate.
“They could have just given me a nickname right away – Putin’s butcher, and everything would have been fine,” he said.
Coming out as Wagner leader
A once shadowy private military contractor (PMC), little was known about the Wagner Group’s formation and Prigozhin’s role was kept a closely guarded secret.
Experts believe it was likely set up to allow plausible deniability about Russia’s military involvement in Ukraine and Syria.
It is privately owned but its management and operations are “deeply intertwined” with the Russian military and intelligence community, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), an American think tank.
The Russian government has previously denied involvement with the group and has insisted private military contractors are not legal in Russia.
Prigozhin has released angry video rants at Russia’s military leaders
However, Putin recently praised Wagner’s capture of Bakhmut in what’s believed to be his first acknowledgment of the group.
The group came to the world’s attention in 2014 during the Donbas conflict, where it supported pro-Russian separatists in a coup, and for sneak attacks, reconnaissance and intelligence-gathering during the annexation of Crimea.
Read more:
Prigozhin a disaster waiting to happen – analysis
Putin accuses mercenary boss of treason
Wagner is also believed to have operated in countries in Africa – including Mali, Mozambique and Sudan – where it has been accused of human rights abuses by the EU.
Prigozhin previously denied any links to Wagner and even launched legal action against Western journalists who attempted to draw such a connection.
However, after Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Prigozhin went public and claimed he had founded the mercenary force in 2014.
Recruiting thousands of prisoners
Prigozhin’s influence has grown since the invasion and his forces have stepped out of the shadows to be used openly in combat.
In late March 2022, UK defence intelligence and US officials said Wagner Group had about 1,000 personnel in Donbas and eastern Ukraine.
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Then, in August, posters calling for recruits to join Wagner began to appear in Russian cities; while a month later, a video appeared which showed Prigozhin attempting to recruit prisoners.
By December, Wagner forces had swelled to 50,000, according to John Kirby, the coordinator for strategic communications at the White House’s National Security Council.
Around 40,000 were believed to be convicts and the rest contractors, he added.
“Wagner almost certainly now commands 50,000 fighters in Ukraine,” the UK’s Ministry of Defence said in January this year.
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How Prigozhin’s rebellion could impact Putin
Despite huge casualty rates, it has proved effective at delivering battlefield success – something the Russian army has struggled with.
Prigozhin’s forces were heavily involved in the capture of Bakhmut, one of the war’s bloodiest battles.
According to US figures, around 20,000 Russian troops were killed in the fighting, with around half thought to be from the Wagner Group.
While Prigozin has appeared to show compassion for the life of his mercenaries at times, he infamously appeared to revel in the brutal execution of a Wagner deserter with a sledgehammer.
“A dog receives a dog’s death,” said Prigozhin in response to the video, published in November last year.
‘Eat their guts in hell’ – Clashes with the Kremlin
While Wagner forces have made advances, the war has also given Prigozhin a chance to further his own political ambitions.
He has, on several occasions, made public his displeasure with the Russian military leadership, often in strongly-worded videos on social media.
Earlier this year, he accused the defence ministry of failing to provide enough ammunition to Wagner forces in Bakhmut and not providing cover for their flanks.
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Wagner leader claims Bakhmut victory
He even threatened to pull troops out if they were not resupplied.
“These are someone’s fathers and someone’s sons,” Prigozhin said at the time, as he shared a video of himself standing by the bodies of dead troops.
“The scum that doesn’t give us ammunition will eat their guts in hell.”
Earlier this month, Prigozhin arrived in Moscow with a contract which, in effect, attempted to formalise Wagner as an equivalent but separate military force to the Russian army.
Hours before his rebellion, he took aim at defence minister Shoigu – often the main target of his vitriol – as well as chief of the general staff Valery Gerasimov.
He also claimed Kremlin officials and oligarchs wanted the invasion of Ukraine to make money and advance their own careers.
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Russian mercenary hands over US and Turkish bodies
Prigozhin has often taken swipes at the Russian “elite”, who he claims have avoided the impact of the war while reaping the benefits.
In May, he warned the country would face turmoil if ordinary Russians continued getting their children back in coffins while those of the elite “shook their a***s” in the sun.
He also released a video in which he paid respect to foreign fighters who had fallen while fighting for Ukraine in Bakhmut by draping their coffins with their country’s flag – which some experts said was a ploy to boost his position among world leaders.
However, while critical of Kremlin officials, one thing Prigozhin has been careful to avoid is criticism of Putin himself.
“He is a product of the Kremlin,” said Andrei Kolesnikov of the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Centre.
“He can be against part of the elite but at the same time, if he were against Putin, he would disappear overnight.”
Mark Galeotti of University College London, who specialises in Russian security affairs, said during his podcast In Moscow’s Shadows: “[Prigozhin] is not one of Putin’s close figures or a confidant.
“Prigozhin does what the Kremlin wants, and does very well for himself in the process. But that’s the thing – he is part of the staff, rather than part of the family.”
World
‘Have the meeting now!’: Trump says Ukraine should ‘immediately’ agree to direct talks with Russia
US President Donald Trump has demanded that Ukraine should “immediately” agree to direct talks with Russia in a bid to end the war.
It comes after Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his team were “ready to meet” Russian representatives following Vladimir Putin suggestion of peace talks, subject to an unconditional ceasefire starting on Monday.
Russia‘s president put forward the proposal for talks in Istanbul on Thursday after European leaders including Sir Keir Starmer threatened him with fresh sanctions if Russia failed to comply with an unconditional 30-day ceasefire starting on Monday.
Analysis:
Why calls for Ukraine talks are likely a delaying tactic from Putin
However, in a post on his Truth Social platform on Sunday, Mr Trump said he was “starting to doubt that Ukraine will make a deal with Putin”.
He urged them to accept the meeting invitation “immediately”, adding “have the meeting now”.
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Putin’s call for peace talks genuine?
Mr Trump wrote: “President Putin of Russia doesn’t want to have a ceasefire agreement with Ukraine, but rather wants to meet on Thursday, in Turkey, to negotiate a possible end to the bloodbath.
“Ukraine should agree to this, immediately. At least they will be able to determine whether or not a deal is possible, and if it is not, European leaders, and the US will know where everything stands, and can proceed accordingly.
“I’m starting to doubt that Ukraine will make a deal with Putin, who’s too busy celebrating the Victory of World War ll, which could not have been won (not even close!) without the United States of America.
“Have the meeting now!”
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Kremlin: ‘We don’t share Starmer’s view’
Shortly after Mr Trump’s post, Mr Zelenskyy posted on X saying: “We await a full and lasting ceasefire, starting from tomorrow, to provide the necessary basis for diplomacy.
“There is no point in prolonging the killings. And I will be waiting for Putin in Türkiye on Thursday. Personally. I hope that this time the Russians will not look for excuses.”
When Mr Putin first suggested the talks, Mr Trump hailed it “a potentially great day for Russia and Ukraine” and said he would “work with both sides to make sure it happens”.
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Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan also said he “fully supported” Mr Putin’s proposal and was ready to host the talks, after the two leaders spoke over the phone on Sunday.
But security and defence analyst Michael Clarke told Sky News presenter Matt Barbet there is a “long way between now and Thursday” and a “fair bit of brinkmanship” going on.
He said even if the talks do go ahead, “the chances are they’ll extend over a long period and there won’t be a ceasefire as a result of them, and the Russians will keep playing this out”.
European leaders hold call with Mr Trump. Pic: Number 10
Mr Putin’s counteroffer of talks came after Sir Keir, Mr Zelenskyy, French President Emmanuel Macron, recently elected German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk met in Kyiv.
The leaders said they had secured Mr Trump’s backing after briefing him on the progress made on the so-called “coalition of the willing” plans in a 20-minute phone call.
World
Terror group supporters posted on TikTok, YouTube and Google from site targeted in Indian airstrikes
Social media accounts expressing support for a Pakistan-based terror group linked to al Qaeda appear to have posted recent videos from a Pakistan mosque targeted by Indian airstrikes.
Sky News has found videos posted on TikTok, YouTube and Google that appear to be filmed at the Markaz Taiba Mosque in Muridke. The captions and usernames contain expressions of support for the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and a group called ‘313’.
Sky News has found and geolocated multiple videos that appear to be filmed in the area where the captions include either or both ‘313’ and LeT.
Some of the videos show men in the streets with guns. Another post captioned a video of children doing martial arts training inside the targeted mosque, “we are little soldiers, and we fight the non-believers”.
The caption of the video reads ‘we are little soldiers, and we fight the non-believers’. It uses the hashtag ‘313’.
The caption uses the hashtag #جہاد313, which translates to ‘313’ jihad.
‘313’ appears to refer to the 313 Brigade, a proscribed terror organisation in Pakistan.
In a TikTok video posted to the Google page for Markaz Taiba Mosque in Muridke, a man can be seen walking along the street with a gun.
The account that posted that video wrote in their description, “Lashkar Taiba, Mujahid Force, ‘313’ and Markaz Taiba Muridke”, self-proclaiming their support for the groups.
This screenshot from the Google user labels Lashkar-e-Taiba and ‘313’ and includes the location name Muridke
India’s retaliatory strikes on Pakistani-adminstered Kashmir and Pakistan on 7 May came after a deadly attack in Indian-administered Kashmir last month.
Gunmen opened fire on tourists, killing 26 people and injuring dozens in a popular holiday spot near Pahalgam, Kashmir, on 22 April.
LeT were accused by India of involvement in the Pahalgam attack through their proxy the Resistance Front, which claimed responsibility for the attack.
LeT, which is designated as a terrorist organisation by the UN Security Council and the UK, focuses on fighting Indian control in Kashmir and is based in the Punjab region of Pakistan.
Pakistan denies allegations of terror camps operating in the country. This region has been in the control of the Punjabi government since 2010. The Punjab government condemned the Indian strikes, and declared a state of emergency across Punjab.
Muskan Sangwan, senior intelligence analyst at TRAC, a terrorism research and analysis consortium, told Sky News: “Brigade 313 is al Qaeda in Pakistan. It’s an umbrella organisation for members of several groups like Taliban, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, Haqqat ul-Jihad-al-Islami, Jaish-e Muhammad, Lashkar-e-Taiba, and Jundullah.”
Ms Sangwan explained that ‘313’ refers to the number of companions said to have fought with the Prophet Mohammed in the Battle of Badr.
TRAC have seen a recent uptick in TikTok videos and other social media posts that refer to ‘313’.
Many of the accounts are linked to each other.
Ms Sangwan said: “They [the TikTok users] mostly use ‘313’ as a hashtag… trying to push that hashtag to as many people it can reach on social media.”
Sky News sought to verify the location by comparing before and after videos from the strike location, and using the video released by the Indian army conducting the strike.
One video showing damage at the strike location was posted by a user with 313 in their TikTok username.
The TikTok account that posted video footage of the destruction in Muridke has 313 in the username
Below is satellite imagery that shows the destruction of the site.
Satellite imagery shows Markaz Taiba Mosque after the strike on 7 May. Credit: Maxar
In one TikTok, the video is captioned “bring your arms and ammunition and go to war”. The text on the screen of the TikTok is ‘313’ and he is carrying a gun.
The group are comfortable with having an online presence. On the Google tag for Markaz Taiba Mosque in Muridke, men pose for a group photo. Almost all the people in the photo have used ‘313’ on TikTok.
Ms Sangwan explained: “With these people from Muridke, pushing this propaganda on social media would generate a lot of significance in terms of recruitment and in terms of gaining support from local people and from other people.”
Sky News’ Asia correspondent Cordelia Lynch has reported on the ground in Muridke.
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Anger in Pakistan after India strikes
India says it struck Markaz Taiba, a site in Muridke about 15 miles (25km) from the border, which has long been claimed to be a terrorist training site associated with LeT.
MEMRI, a US-based research group that monitors terrorist threats, told Sky News: “It has been known for decades that Lashkar-e-Taiba has its headquarters in Muridke.”
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Sky News contacted the Pakistan Ministry of Defence for comment. Khawaja Asif, Pakistan’s defence minister, told Sky News: “This appears to be a random video with background music added later – consistent with how TikTok trends often function. If this is to be considered credible evidence, we could produce millions of similar clips ourselves.”
Mr Asif also said that any suggestion that the mosque was used as a base by terrorists was a “completely false, social media made up hoax”.
On 7 May, after the strikes in Pakistan, the Indian subcontinent branch of al Qaeda issued a statement condemning India’s actions and encouraging its supporters to wage jihad against India.
The Data and Forensics team is a multi-skilled unit dedicated to providing transparent journalism from Sky News. We gather, analyse and visualise data to tell data-driven stories. We combine traditional reporting skills with advanced analysis of satellite images, social media and other open source information. Through multimedia storytelling we aim to better explain the world while also showing how our journalism is done.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said his country is “ready to meet” Russian representatives after Vladimir Putin suggested peace talks in Istanbul from Thursday.
Russia‘s president put forward the proposal as European leaders including Sir Keir Starmer threatened him with fresh sanctions if Russia failed to comply with an unconditional 30-day ceasefire starting on Monday.
Reacting to Mr Putin’s suggestion, US President Donald Trump said it was “a potentially great day for Russia and Ukraine” and he would “work with both sides to make sure it happens”.
Mr Zelenskyy has also welcomed the proposal, but reiterated his call for a ceasefire.
He said: “It is a positive sign that the Russians have finally begun to consider ending the war. The entire world has been waiting for this for a very long time. And the very first step in truly ending any war is a ceasefire.
“There is no point in continuing the killing even for a single day. We expect Russia to confirm a ceasefire – full, lasting, and reliable – starting tomorrow, May 12th, and Ukraine is ready to meet.”
On Saturday, the prime minister met the Ukrainian president alongside French President Emmanuel Macron, recently elected German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk in Kyiv.
Announcing the 30-day ceasefire proposal, the leaders said they had secured the backing of Mr Trump after briefing him on the progress made on the so-called “coalition of the willing” plans in a 20-minute phone call.
What Trump does next is crucial
Russian President Vladimir Putin is playing for time and may have been caught on the hop by European leaders, backed by US President Donald Trump, demanding a 30-day ceasefire during their visit to Kyiv yesterday.
Russia’s proposal of talks in Istanbul on Thursday appears hurriedly conceived, announced as it was in the early hours of the morning by Putin.
There is an added symbolism to his suggestion of Istanbul as a venue. Russia has long blamed Ukraine for walking away from peace talks in the same city in 2022.
The key thing is that diplomatic movement of sorts is happening.
Ukraine and its European colleagues want to capitalise on Trump’s renewed enthusiasm for a ceasefire and his potential scepticism of how ready Putin actually is to make peace.
The Europeans will hope this isn’t drawn into a protracted period of negotiations, or simply talking about the idea of negotiations.
What President Trump does next will be crucial.
Speaking at the Kremlin in the early hours of Sunday, Mr Putin did not directly address the proposal but instead offered to restart peace talks Russia and Ukraine held in 2022.
“We propose the Kyiv authorities resume the negotiations they interrupted at the end of 2022… to resume direct negotiations… without any preconditions… to begin without delay next Thursday 15 May in Istanbul,” he said.
Speaking to Sky News Russia correspondent Ivor Bennett after the statement, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Moscow does not “share the view of Starmer”.
“We think that the seriousness is to propose negotiations,” he said, denying the move was a delaying tactic.
Mr Peskov said there had to be negotiations to find a way for a ceasefire, adding: “A simplistic approach to a ceasefire is inappropriate.”
European leaders including Volodymyr Zelenskyy hold call with Donald Trump. Pic: Number 10
Russia’s own unilateral three-day ceasefire, declared for the 80th anniversary of victory over Nazi Germany, expired on Saturday, and Ukraine said Russian forces have repeatedly violated it.
After the summit in Kyiv, Sir Keir said: “All of us here, together with the US, are calling Putin out.
“So we are clear, all five leaders here – all the leaders of the meeting we just had with the coalition of the willing – an unconditional ceasefire, rejecting Putin’s conditions, and clear that if he turns his back on peace, we will respond.
“Working with President Trump, with all our partners, we will ramp up sanctions and increase our military aid for Ukraine’s defence to pressure Russia back to the table.”
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During Mr Putin’s statement on Sunday, he insisted he would support peace talks, adding: “We are committed to serious negotiations with Ukraine.”
He told reporters: “Their purpose is to eliminate the root causes of the conflict, to establish a long-term, lasting peace.
“We do not rule out that during these negotiations it will be possible to agree on some new truces, a new ceasefire.”
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Responding to Mr Putin’s proposal, Mr Macron said the Russian leader was “looking for a way forward, but he still has a desire to buy time”.
Mr Putin’s proposed negotiations are “a first step, but they are not sufficient,” he told French broadcaster BFM.
“An unconditional ceasefire is not preceded by negotiations, by definition.”
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