The person as soon as dubbed “Vladimir Putin’s chef” earlier than turning into the Russian chief’s mercenary chief is now reportedly being eyed to succeed Putin ought to he step down as president as a consequence of his ongoing well being points, RadarOnline.com has realized.
Yevgeny Prigozhin, who now heads the Wagner Personal Navy Group in opposition to Ukraine, first made a reputation for himself in 1990 after being launched from a Russian penal colony following a nine-year sentence for theft and assault.
The now 61-year-old then amassed a big fortune through a sequence of enterprise ventures – together with promoting scorching canines, opening comfort shops, and operating quite a few eating places throughout Russia.
Upon assembly Putin at one of many convict-turned-chef’s eating places in 1996, Prigozhin’s catering firm – Harmony – was given a sequence of state contracts to assist feed Russia’s huge faculty system and navy.
Putin and Prigozhin’s skilled relationship grew considerably over the previous 20 years, and “Putin’s chef” was finally given a spot within the Russian chief’s “internal circle.”
As RadarOnline.com beforehand reported, Prigozhin and Wagner’s progress in opposition to Ukraine has lately turn out to be a double-edged sword for Russia’s president — as a result of though PMC Wagner has made navy good points in opposition to the rival Ukrainian troops, Kremlin officers consider Putin has misplaced management of his mercenary chief.
Final week, the Kremlin was compelled to situation an announcement contradicting Prigozhin’s claims he and his mercenaries efficiently captured the Ukrainian metropolis of Soledar.
“This was all completed by PMC Wagner with no different assist,” mentioned Prigozhin. “Wagner items took management of your entire territory of Soledar.”
“A cauldron has been fashioned within the centre of town by which city preventing is occurring,” the mercenary chief, who reportedly has greater than 50,000 mercenaries at his disposal, continued. “The variety of prisoners can be introduced tomorrow.”
“Assault squads are [still] preventing within the metropolis,” the Kremlin mentioned in an announcement of their very own. Moscow additionally indicated that Russian forces “blocked Soledar from the northern and southern areas of town” – indicating the Wagner mercenary group didn’t take Soledar “with no different assist.”
Dr. Huseyn Aliyev, an knowledgeable on Russia and the continuing battle in Ukraine, lately predicted Prigozhin can be named Putin’s successor ought to the struggling Russian chief surrender energy.
“Prigozhin is likely one of the typical Putin-era energy brokers, some of the trusted within the Kremlin,” Dr. Aliyev mentioned. “He has pushed himself to the entrance and proved himself able to pushing ahead with Russia’s offensive simply as Putin is disillusioned by his generals.”