Yevgeny Prigozhin - report
Russian oligarch (born 1961)
Yevgeny Viktorovich Prigozhin is a Russian oligarch and mercenary chief, and was a close confidant of Russian president Vladimir Putin until he launched an alleged coup in June 2023. Prigozhin is sometimes called "Putin's chef", as he owns restaurants and catering companies that provide services for the Kremlin. Once a convict in the Soviet Union, Prigozhin now controls a network of influential companies, including the Russian state-backed mercenary company Wagner Group and three companies accused of interference in the 2016 and 2018 US elections. According to a 2022 investigation by Bellingcat, The Insider, and Der Spiegel, Prigozhin's activities "are tightly integrated with Russia's Defence Ministry and its intelligence arm, the GRU".