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☆ A sneaky move at a Kremlin meeting may show why Putin took his time in eliminating Prigozhin
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-17 | by ( Paul Iddon | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

If so, the process of removing Prigozhin may have begun at a Kremlin meeting days after his uprising. On June 29, five days after the rebellion was called off, Putin gathered Prigozhin and his commanders in the Kremlin, according to a report in the Russian outlet Kommersant. "Reports of the meeting — and the lack of notable cases of dissension following Prigozhin's death — suggest that the meeting likely achieved its goals," Orr said. Chekalov, a senior deputy to Prigozhin, oversaw logistics, coordinating numerous Wagner activities and operations in Libya and Syria. ALEXEY DANICHEV/POOL/AFP via Getty ImagesUnder Prigozhin, Wagner amassed a business empire using lucrative concessions from governments and backers in the countries where it operated.

Persons: Yevgeny Prigozhin, Vladimir Putin, Putin, Wagner, Prigozhin, Alexei Troshev, nodded affirmatively, Matthew Orr, RANE, Orr, Dmitry Utkin, Valery Chekalov, Anton Mardasov, Mardasov, ALEXEY DANICHEV, Prigozhin's, Pavel Organizations: Service, Wagner Group, Kommersant, Reuters, French Army, Associated Press, Russia's Ministry of Defense, PMC Convoy, PMC Redut, Russian, Ministry of Defense, Getty, Belarusian Defence Ministry, Wagner PMC, SVR Locations: Wall, Silicon, Moscow, Russian, Tver, Eurasia, Prigozhin, Libya, Syria, Mali, Africa, East, Russia, Belarus, St . Petersburg, Saharan Africa, Ukraine, Osipovichi

☆ Prigozhin's right-hand man in Wagner buried quietly near Moscow
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-31 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

REUTERS/Stringer Acquire Licensing RightsMOSCOW, Aug 31 (Reuters) - The co-founder and military commander of the Russian mercenary group Wagner was buried near Moscow on Thursday, after dying in an unexplained plane crash that also killed his boss Yevgeny Prigozhin. Before helping to found Wagner as Prigozhin's shadowy right-hand man, Utkin was a special forces lieutenant colonel in the GRU military intelligence service. He fought for Wagner to support Moscow's military campaigns in Syria and Ukraine, and was photographed in 2016 at the Kremlin with President Vladimir Putin. Utkin, Prigozhin and Wagner's head of logistics, Valery Chekalov, were among 10 people who died when Prigozhin's Embraer Legacy 600 private jet plunged from the sky north of Moscow on Aug. 23. After a deal ended the mutiny, Utkin said in a speech to Wagner fighters: "This is not the end.

Persons: Wagner, Dmitry Utkin, Stringer, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Prigozhin, Utkin, Vladimir Putin, Valery Chekalov, Putin, Kevin Liffey, Mark Trevelyan Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Russian, St, Kremlin, Reuters, Embraer, Thomson Locations: Mytishchi, Moscow, Russia, Russian, St Petersburg, Syria, Ukraine

☆ Newly surfaced video of Wagner boss Prigozhin shows him joking about his own death days before his fatal plane crash
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-31 | by ( Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

A new video has surfaced of Yevgeny Prigozhin, where he claims to be in Africa in mid-August. In it, the Wagner Group leader says he's doing "fine" amid speculation over his wellbeing. The footage appears to be from just days before Prigozhin died in a plash crash near Moscow. Prigozhin's reference to a weekend in the second half of August indicates that the newly surfaced video was likely filmed around August 19 or 20, just days before he died in a plane crash. After initial reports of the plane crash surfaced, US officials said it wasn't surprising.

Persons: Yevgeny Prigozhin, he's, Prigozhin, Wagner, Anton Gerashchenko, Dmitry Utkin, Valery Chekalov, Vladimir Putin, Moscow —, Putin, Bill Burns, Joe Biden, Karine Jean, Pierre Organizations: Group, Service, Wagner Group, Wagner, Telegram, REUTERS, Pentagon, Ostorozhno, CIA, House Press Locations: Africa, Moscow, Wall, Silicon, Russia, St . Petersburg, Belarus, Kuzhenkino, Tver region, Ostorozhno Novosti

☆ Russia Reports Widespread Drone Attacks on Country
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-30 | by ( Victoria Kim | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +4 min

The police presence was heavy on Tuesday at the Porokhovskoye cemetery in St. Petersburg, Russia, where the press service of Yevgeny V. Prigozhin said he had been buried. “Those wishing to say goodbye can visit the Porokhovskoye cemetery” in St. Petersburg. The secrecy reflected the sensitivities surrounding Mr. Prigozhin, a longtime ally of Mr. Putin who launched a failed mutiny against Moscow’s military leadership in June. Video People paid tribute to Yevgeny V. Prigozhin, the Russian mercenary chief, and Dmitri Utkin, a longtime lieutenant. That left room for days of speculation about whether Mr. Prigozhin was really on the plane.

Persons: Yevgeny V, Prigozhin, Vladimir V, Putin, “, ”, Porokhovskoye, Mr, Wagner, Dmitri Utkin, Nanna Heitmann, Valery Chekalov, ” Farida Rustamova, Safronova, Jesus Jiménez Organizations: Russian, Video, Credit, The New York Locations: St . Petersburg, Russia, Moscow, Russian, Northern

☆ Russia's Prigozhin buried privately in St Petersburg
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

[1/4] A view shows the grave of Russian mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, who was killed in a plane crash last week, at the Porokhovskoye cemetery in Saint Petersburg, Russia August 29, 2023. Those who wish to say goodbye may visit Porokhovskoye cemetery," his press service said in a short post on Telegram. In recent days admirers had heaped flowers on makeshift shrines to Prigozhin in Moscow, St Petersburg and elsewhere. Two other top Wagner figures, four Prigozhin bodyguards and three crew members were also killed when his Embraer Legacy 600 private jet crashed north of Moscow. Earlier on Tuesday, Valery Chekalov, the head of Wagner logistics, was buried at another St Petersburg cemetery.

Persons: Yevgeny Prigozhin, Stringer, Putin, Prigozhin, Yevgeny Viktorovich, Wagner, Vladimir Putin's, Sergei Shoigu, Valery Chekalov, Mark Trevelyan, Jon Boyle, Alex Richardson Organizations: REUTERS, Embraer, Reuters, Kremlin, Thomson Locations: Saint Petersburg, Russia, PETERSBURG, St Petersburg, Porokhovskoye, Ukraine, Prigozhin, Moscow, Rostov, Russian

☆ Wagner Group may be absorbed by the Russian Defense Ministry, which Prigozhin rallied against before his death. The mercenary group's current arrangement could 'disappear rather soon,' former GRU capt
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-29 | by ( Azmi Haroun | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

The fate of the Wagner Group is in the hands of Vladimir Putin and the Kremlin. The New York Times reported the Russian Defense Ministry was considering absorbing the group. AdvertisementAdvertisement"The Wagner Group will disappear rather soon," Boris Volodarsky, a former captain in Russia's Spetsnaz GRU special forces and a fellow with the Royal Historical Society in London, told Insider. As tensions mounted between Wagner and Putin this summer, the Kremlin mandated that Wagner recruits sign contracts with the Russian army — which Prigozhin resisted. In his tirade, Prigozhin said the ministry "must be stopped" and the people responsible for the death of Wagner fighters must be punished.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Prigozhin, Wagner, Boris Volodarsky, Russia's, Putin, Dmitry Utkin, Valery Chekalov, Volodarsky, —, Alexander Lukashenko Organizations: Wagner, Kremlin, The New York Times, Russian Defense Ministry, Service, Wagner Group, New York Times, Institute for, Royal Historical Society, Defense Ministry, Times, Central African, Associated Press, Russia's Defense Ministry, Belarusian Locations: Wall, Silicon, East, Africa, Russian, London, Tver, Moscow, Belarus, Bakhmut, Ukraine, Mali, Russia, Rostov

CNN —Russian investigators have confirmed that Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin was among the 10 people killed when their plane crashed Wednesday, after carrying out genetic tests. “As part of the investigation of the plane crash in the Tver region, molecular genetic examinations have been completed,” a statement published on the Russia’s Investigative Committee’s Telegram channel read. The Wagner warlord was on the plane which crashed Wednesday, Russian authorities said. Telegram/WAGNER_svodkiAlso killed was Dmitriy Utkin, a trusted lieutenant of Prigozhin’s since the beginning of the Wagner Group, and Valeriy Chekalov, a senior aide to Prigozhin. To date, no evidence has been presented that points to the involvement of the Kremlin or Russian security services in the crash.

Persons: Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Dmitriy Utkin, Valeriy, Prigozhin, Prigozhin’s, Vladimir Putin’s, Joe Biden, Putin, I’m, ”, Dmitry Peskov Organizations: CNN, Kremlin, Wagner Group, Putin Locations: Moscow, St . Petersburg, Tver, Prigozhin’s, Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Soviet Union

CNN —Yevgeny Prigozhin turned the Wagner Group from a shadowy band of mercenaries into a feared military powerhouse operating across multiple countries on three continents. The kind of clear chain of command that is common in traditional military does not exist in Wagner, which makes Prigozhin’s demise a potentially existential problem for the group. Members of Wagner group sit atop of a tank in a street in the city of Rostov-on-Don, on June 24, 2023. A Russian military delegation went to the Libyan city of Benghazi this week to meet with Haftar, who has been supported by Wagner for several years. He said the cracks in the foundations of West African and Central African countries that have leaned on the Wagner Group for support could begin to emerge now.

Persons: Yevgeny Prigozhin, Wagner, ”, Natasha Lindstaedt, “ It’s, ” Lindstaedt, – Wagner, Dmitriy Utkin, Valeriy Chekalov –, “ Wagner, Russia ” Wagner, Prigozhin, Vladimir Putin, “, ” Wagner, Huseyn Aliyev, –, ” Aliyev, Aliyev, Lindstaedt, Putin, Stringer, Yevgeny Progozhin, Khalifa, Haftar, Yevkurov, ” Oluwole, there’s, ” Prigozhin, Christopher O, Ogunmodede, couldn’t, Sergey Lavrov Organizations: CNN, Wagner, University of Essex, Russia, University of Glasgow, Kremlin, Ministry of Defense, Prigozhin's Press Service, Russian Ministry of Defense, Kommersant, UK Ministry of Defense, Getty Images Security, Russian, Central African, Forces, Reuters, Libyan, Central Africa, Institute for Security Studies, Central, Wagner Group, Politics, Russia’s Locations: Moscow, Russia, Russia’s, Russian, United States, Ukraine, Africa, Middle, Bakhmut, Rostov, AFP, Syria, St . Petersburg, Mali, Crimea, Central African Republic, Mozambique, Libya, Libyan, Benghazi, West African, “, Mali …

☆ 'Highly likely' Wagner boss Prigozhin dead but no definitive proof yet -UK
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LONDON, Aug 25 (Reuters) - There is not yet definitive proof that Wagner mercenary boss Yevgeny Prigozhin was onboard a plane that crashed with no survivors earlier this week but it is "highly likely" he is dead, Britain's Ministry of Defence said on Friday. "There is not yet definitive proof that Prigozhin was onboard and he is known to exercise exceptional security measures. However, it is highly likely that he is indeed dead," the British ministry said in a defence intelligence update posted on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter. "The demise of Prigozhin would almost certainly have a deeply destabilising effect on the Wagner Group. His personal attributes of hyper-activity, exceptional audacity, a drive for results and extreme brutality permeated Wagner and are unlikely to be matched by any successor."

Persons: Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Prigozhin, Dimitry Utkin, Valery Chekalov, Kylie MacLellan, Farouq Suleiman, Kate Holton Organizations: Britain's Ministry of Defence, Wagner Group, Thomson Locations: Moscow

☆ Yevgeny Prigozhin plane crash: who were the passengers on the jet?
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

A fighter of Wagner private mercenary group lights a candle at a makeshift memorial with portraits of Russian mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin and Wagner group commander Dmitry Utkin outside the local office of the Wagner private mercenary group in Novosibirsk, Russia August 24, 2023. REUTERS/Stringer Acquire Licensing RightsAug 24 (Reuters) - Funerals are expected to take place soon for Russian mercenary boss Yevgeny Prigozhin and other members of his Wagner group who died in a plane crash last week. * Yevgeny Prigozhin, 62, soared to prominence after Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine where his fighters including thousands of released convicts led the Russian capture of the city of Bakhmut. * Dmitry Utkin, 53, Prigozhin's right-hand man, co-founder of Wagner and the group's top military commander, whose call-sign was "Wagner". The St. Petersburg newspaper Fontanka, which has been investigating the Wagner group for years, wrote that Chekalov was Wagner's "logistician".

Persons: Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Dmitry Utkin, Stringer, Utkin, Vladimir Putin, Valery Chekalov, Chekalov, Sergei Propustin, Propustin, Alexander Totmin, Myrotvorets, Totmin, Yevgeny Makaryan, Nikolai Matuseyev, Filipp Lebedev, Andrew Osborn, Mark Heinrich, Andrew Heavens Organizations: REUTERS, Fontanka, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Novosibirsk, Russia, Russian, Ukraine, Bakhmut, Syria, St, Petersburg, Sudan

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