ROMA
Yevgeny Prigozhin, the former Kremlin cook, lord and master of the Wagner militia for nine years, Putinin’s armed wing in Africa and the Middle East, the man of dirty work, accused of war crimes in several theaters of operations, felt cornered. And he reacted angrily like a cornered animal: attacking. Either he does it or he breaks it.
Cornered by his archenemy, the powerful Defense Minister Shoigu, who wanted to take away his “toy” by placing Wagner under the control of the General Staff, Prigozhin responded by raising the bar. Raised in the university on the street, Prigozhin ends up before a judge as soon as he comes of age and convicted of theft, sentence condoned, but two years later he is tried again, accused of robbery, fraud and management of a minor prostitution network.
They give him 12 years, he serves nine and gets out in 1990, when the Social Union is collapsing. These are times without rules. He becomes an entrepreneur, first creating a chain that sells hot dogs and a casino and then creating a restaurant company. In his restaurant for VIPs he meets Putin. And he strikes the spark. Prigozin organizes receptions in the Kremlin receives millionaire state contracts but the definition of “Putin’s cook” is close to him. And so since 2014 he has created two new businesses; the Wagner mercenary company and a company of trolls in the service of the Kremlin. For years he uses the low profile for these businesses, until, with the “special operation” underway, he finally claims Wagner’s departure. Strengthened by Putin’s protection, Prigozhin raises his goals and decides to make war on Shoigu, with the aim of making his place. But Shoigu is no less tough than him and convinces Putin to limit Wagner, which also provides him with cannon fodder and produces results in Ukraine, like in Bakhmut, albeit at the cost of more than ten thousand dead, mostly convicts fighting to have the pardon.
Prigozhin’s dream is power, but he knows he will never be able to run for president to challenge Putin, who would crush him. So he targets Shoigu and when he sees that he is losing he tries the coup. Take Russia. A dream that fades into a last-minute deal that looks more like a fragile truce than peace.
a. farr.