How Wagner’s Yevgeny Prigozhin turned from Kremlin defender to fierce critic of Russian military

The Putin ally, whose mercenaries have helped Moscow capture several key Ukrainian towns, is locked in a bitter power struggle with the defence ministry

Prigozhin, a former hot dog seller, also blamed top military officials for his fighters’ deaths as his ties with the Kremlin sour

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Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin poses with his soldiers in Bakhmut, Ukraine. File photo: Prigozhin Press Service via AP

Published: 12:17pm, 24 Jun 2023

Russia’s large-scale offensive in Ukraine has propelled businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin from the Kremlin’s shadows to become a firebrand critic of Russia’s military brass, who he called to be ousted on Friday.

Before President Vladimir Putin ordered troops to Ukraine last February, 62-year-old Prigozhin dispatched mercenaries from his private fighting force to conflicts in the Middle East and Africa but always denied involvement.

That changed when the long-time Kremlin ally finally admitted last year he had founded the Wagner group and began a mass recruitment drive at Russia’s prisons for foot soldiers to fight in exchange for an amnesty.

While gaining public acclaim in Russia as Wagner spearheaded the capture of several key Ukrainian towns including Bakhmut, Prigozhin has also blasted what he says is systemic mismanagement and lying in the Russian defence ministry.

“The evil that the military leadership of the country brings must be stopped,” Prigozhin said on Friday, after claiming the defence ministry had launched strikes on Wagner bases.

Russia’s FSB security service responded by opening a criminal probe into calls to stage “an armed mutiny,” even though Prigozhin has assured Russians he was calling for “justice” and “not a coup”.

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