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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.

Founder of Wagner private mercenary group Yevgeny Prigozhin makes a statement on the start of withdrawal of his forces from Bakhmut and handing over their positions to regular Russian troops, in the course of Russia-Ukraine conflict in Bakhmut, Ukraine
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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.

SENSITIVE MATERIAL. THIS IMAGE MAY OFFEND OR DISTURB    Founder of Wagner private mercenary group Yevgeny Prigozhin speaks next to the bodies of what he says are Wagner fighters killed in Russia-Ukraine conflict, in an undisclosed location, in this still image taken from video released May 5, 2023. Press service of "Concord"/Handout via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVES. MANDATORY CREDIT.
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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.”

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Donald Trump announces 30% tariff on imports from EU

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Donald Trump announces 30% tariff on imports from EU

Donald Trump has announced he will impose a 30% tariff on imports from the European Union from 1 August.

The tariffs could make everything from French cheese and Italian leather goods to German electronics and Spanish pharmaceuticals more expensive in the US.

Mr Trump has also imposed a 30% tariff on goods from Mexico, according to a post from his Truth Social account.

Announcing the moves in separate letters on the account, the president said the US trade deficit was a national security threat.

In his letter to the EU, he wrote: “We have had years to discuss our trading relationship with The European Union, and we have concluded we must move away from these long-term, large, and persistent, trade Deficits, engendered by your tariff, and non-Tariff, policies, and trade barriers.

“Our relationship has been, unfortunately, far from reciprocal.”

In his letter to Mexico, Mr Trump said he did not think the country had done enough to stop the US from turning into a “narco-trafficking playground”.

The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said today that the EU could adopt “proportionate countermeasures” if the US proceeds with imposing the 30% tariff.

Ms von der Leyen, who heads the EU’s executive arm, said in a statement that the bloc remained ready “to continue working towards an agreement by Aug 1”.

“Few economies in the world match the European Union’s level of openness and adherence to fair trading practices,” she continued.

“We will take all necessary steps to safeguard EU interests, including the adoption of proportionate countermeasures if required.”

Ms von der Leyen has also said imposing tariffs on EU exports would “disrupt essential transatlantic supply chains”.

Meanwhile, Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof said on the X social media platform that Mr Trump’s announcement was “very concerning and not the way forward”.

He added: “The European Commission can count on our full support. As the EU we must remain united and resolute in pursuing an outcome with the United States that is mutually beneficial.”

Mexico’s economy ministry said a bilateral working group aims to reach an alternative to the 30% US tariffs before they are due to take effect.

The country was informed by the US that it would receive a letter about the tariffs, the ministry’s statement said, adding that Mexico was negotiating.

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Trump plans to hit Canada with 35% tariff
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Robot performs realistic surgery

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How ‘liberation day’ unfolded

Trump’s tariff threats and delays

On his so-called “liberation day” in April, Mr Trump unleashed “reciprocal tariffs” on many of America’s trade partners.

The US president said he was targeting countries with which America has a trade imbalance.

However, since then he’s backed down in a spiralling tit-for-tat tariff face-off with China, and struck a deal with the UK.

The US imposed a 20% tariff on imported goods from the EU in April but it was later paused and the bloc has since been paying a baseline tariff of 10% on goods it exports to the US.

In May, while the US and EU where holding trade negotiations, Mr Trump threated to impose a 50% tariff on the bloc as talks didn’t progress as he would have liked.

However, he later announced he was delaying the imposition of that tariff while negotiations over a trade deal took place.

As of earlier this week, the EU’s executive commission, which handles trade issues for the bloc’s 27-member nations, said its leaders were still hoping to strike a trade deal with the Trump administration.

Without one, the EU said it was prepared to retaliate with tariffs on hundreds of American products, ranging from beef and auto parts to beer and Boeing airplanes.

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‘At least 798 killed’ at Gaza aid points – as medical charity warns acute malnutrition at all-time high

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'At least 798 killed' at Gaza aid points - as medical charity warns acute malnutrition at all-time high

At least 798 people in Gaza have reportedly been killed while receiving aid in the past six weeks – while acute malnutrition is said to have reached an all-time high.

The UN human rights office said 615 of the deaths – between 27 May and 7 July – were “in the vicinity” of sites run by the controversial US and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF).

A further 183 people killed were “presumably on the route of aid convoys,” said Ravina Shamdasani, from the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Its figures are based on a range of sources, including hospitals, cemeteries, and families in the Gaza Strip, as well as non-governmental organisations (NGOs), its partners on the ground, and Hamas-run health authorities.

Aid agency Project Hope said on Thursday that 10 children were among at least 15 people killed as they waited for its clinic in Deir al Balah to open.

Omar Meshmesh carries the body of his three-year-old niece Aya - one of the victims of the clinic attack. Pic: AP
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Ten children were reportedly killed when Israel attacked near a clinic on Thursday. Pic: AP

The GHF has claimed the UN figures are “false and misleading” and has repeatedly denied any violence at or around its sites.

Meanwhile, Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) – also known as Doctors Without Borders – said two of its sites were seeing their worst-ever levels of severe malnutrition.

Cases at its Gaza City clinic are said to have tripled from 293 in May to 983 in early July.

“Over 700 pregnant or breastfeeding women and nearly 500 children are now receiving emergency nutritional care,” MSF said.

The humanitarian medical charity said food prices were at extreme levels, with sugar at $766 (£567) per kilo and flour $30 (£22) per kilo, and many families surviving on one meal of rice or lentils a day.

It’s a major concern for the estimated 55,000 pregnant women in Gaza, who risk miscarriage, stillbirth and malnourished infants because of the shortages.

The GHF began distributing food packages in Gaza at the end of May, after Israel eased its 11-week blockade of aid into the coastal territory.

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US aid contractors claim live ammo fired at Palestinians

It has four distribution centres, three of which are in the southern Gaza Strip.

The sites, kept off-limits to independent media, are guarded by private security contractors and located in zones where the Israeli military operates.

Palestinian witnesses say Israeli forces have repeatedly opened fire towards crowds of people going to receive aid.

The Israeli military says it has fired warning shots at people who have behaved in what it says is a suspicious manner.

It says its forces operate near the aid sites to stop supplies from falling into the hands of militants.

Read more:
GHF aid distribution linked to increased deaths
Gaza situation ‘apocalyptic’, says UN expert

After the deaths of hundreds of Palestinians trying to reach the aid hubs, the United Nations has called the GHF’s aid model “inherently unsafe” and a violation of humanitarian impartiality standards.

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In response, a GHF spokesperson said: “The fact is the most deadly attacks on aid sites have been linked to UN convoys.”

The GHF says it has delivered more than 70 million meals to Gazans in five weeks and claims other humanitarian groups had “nearly all of their aid looted” by Hamas or criminal gangs.

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At least 798 people have been killed at Gaza aid points, the UN says

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'At least 798 killed' at Gaza aid points - as medical charity warns acute malnutrition at all-time high

At least 798 people in Gaza have been killed while receiving aid in six weeks, the UN human rights office has said.

A spokesperson for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said 615 of the killings were “in the vicinity” of sites run by the controversial US and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF).

A further 183 people killed were “presumably on the route of aid convoys,” Ravina Shamdasani told reporters in Geneva.

The office said its figures are based on numbers from a range of sources, including hospitals, cemeteries and families in the Gaza Strip, as well as NGOs, its partners on the ground and the Hamas-run health authorities.

The GHF has claimed the figures are “false and misleading”. It has repeatedly denied there has been any violence at or around its sites.

The organisation began distributing food packages in Gaza at the end of May, after Israel eased its 11-week blockade of aid into the enclave.

It has four distribution centres, three of which are in the southern Gaza Strip. The sites, kept off-limits to independent media, are guarded by private security contractors and located in zones where the Israeli military operates.

Palestinian witnesses say Israeli forces have repeatedly opened fire towards crowds of people going to receive aid.

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US aid contractors claim live ammo fired at Palestinians

The Israeli military says it has fired warning shots at people who have behaved in what they say is a suspicious manner.

It says its forces operate near the aid sites to stop supplies falling into the hands of militants.

Read more:
GHF aid distribution linked to increased deaths
Gaza situation ‘apocalyptic’, says UN expert

After the deaths of hundreds of Palestinians trying to reach the aid hubs, the United Nations has called the GHF’s aid model “inherently unsafe” and a violation of humanitarian impartiality standards.

Follow The World
Follow The World

Listen to The World with Richard Engel and Yalda Hakim every Wednesday

Tap to follow

In response, a GHF spokesperson told the Reuters news agency: “The fact is the most deadly attacks on aid sites have been linked to UN convoys.”

The GHF says it has delivered more than 70 million meals to Gazans in five weeks and claims other humanitarian groups had “nearly all of their aid looted” by Hamas or criminal gangs.

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