“The Wagner PMC kind of does not exist. We used to be given ammunition formally for some military units, which like to take Bakhmut instead of us”
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Yevgeny Prigozhin
Yevgeny Viktorovich Prigozhin was a Russian mercenary leader, rebel commander, and oligarch. He led the Wagner Group, a private military company, and was a close confidant of Russian president Vladimir Putin until he launched a one-day rebellion in June 2023. Prigozhin was sometimes referred to as "Putin's chef" because he owned restaurants and catering businesses that provided services to the Kre…
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business · Russian oligarch and mercenary leader (1961–2023) · restaurateur · entrepreneur · condottiero · mercenary · innkeeper · illustrator · traiteur · hot dog vendor · also Yevgeny Prigozhin, Eugeniy Prigozhin, Yevgeny Viktorovich Prigozhin, Yevgeniy Vicktorovich Prigozhin, Yevgeniy Prigozhin, Putin’s chef
Born 1 June 1961 · Died 23 August 2023 · Q20850503
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«Уазики отличные, ИЛ - уникальные». С чем приехал в Ульяновск Евгений Пригожин
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2026· 6 entries
“All these bastards ought to be sent to the front barefoot with just a submachine gun”
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“If there is no ammunition, then we will leave the position and ask the question—who is cheating on the motherland after all?”
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“You sit in expensive clubs, your children enjoy life, you make videos on YouTube. You think that you are the masters of this life, and that you have the right to dispose of their lives”
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Snopes rated the claim “In June 2023, U.S. Vice President JD Vance posted on X: "In this house we believe: Black Lives Matter. No human is illegal. Prigozhin is a Liberal reformer. Love is love."” Correct Attribution.
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Public attention spiked: 10,021 Wikipedia readers in one day, 5.9× the usual 1,687, with 0 article edits.
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2024· 2 entries
Reported claimRated Mr Prigozhin is widely reported to have died in August 2023. Differently shaped ears suggest the man in the photos is another person. · Full Fact
Full Fact rated the claim “Photos show Yevgeny Prigozhin sitting on a train.” Mr Prigozhin is widely reported to have died in August 2023. Differently shaped ears suggest the man in the photos is another person..
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Newsweek: Fact Check: Was ‘Yevgeny Prigozhin’ Killed in Ukraine?
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2023· 16 entries
Rappler rated the claim “Russia’s most powerful mercenary Yevgeny Prigozhin is still alive, having survived a plane crash last August 23.” False.
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The Quint rated the claim “This video shows President Putin his respects at the funeral of Wagner chief, Yevgeny Prigozhin.” False.
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AFP Fact Check rated the claim “Video shows Putin during Prigozhin's funeral” False.
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Lead Stories rated the claim “Prigozhin pilot had post-vaccine myocarditis, heart attack may be be cause of crash” Fake Headline.
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India Today rated the claim “This video shows Putin attending Wagner Group chief Yevgeny Prigozhin’s funeral ceremony.” False.
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CBS News: Leon Panetta on the fate of Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin: "If you cross Putin, the likelihood is you're going to die"
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Forbes: Russia Finally Confirms Prigozhin’s Death After Mercenary Leader Killed In Plane Crash
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Yahoo: Russian mercenary boss Yevgeny Prigozhin challenged the Kremlin in a brief mutiny
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BOOM Fact Check rated the claim “Video shows the moment Prigozhin Yevgeny's plane crashed” False.
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Snopes rated the claim “The Russian state media outlet RT published an online article claiming the pilot of the plane carrying Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin when it crashed had post-vaccine myocarditis and may have suffered a heart attack.” False.
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Newsweek: Putin Will Emerge Stronger From Yevgeny Prigozhin’s Death | Opinion
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CBS News: Yevgeny Prigozhin, Wagner chief purportedly killed in plane crash, "a man of complicated fate," Putin says
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Forbes: Everything We Know—And Don’t Know—About The Plane Crash That Reportedly Killed Yevgeny Prigozhin
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Died 2023-08-23.
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“We have been put on an artificial shortage of ammunition that is in storage. We were receiving no more than 30% of our needs. So our losses were much higher than they should have been, but we were getting ahead. A month ago they stopped giving us ammunition, and we”
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“I am not poking you in the nose with the fact that you sit down to breakfast, lunch and dinner from gold dishes, and send your daughters, granddaughters and dogs on vacation in Dubai. Not embarrassed by anything. At a time when a Russian soldier is dying at the front. I”
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2022· 5 entries
Claimed: ““It is absolutely clear to me that Nuzhin was kidnapped and brutally killed by the employees of the U.S. intelligence services.”” — rated False by VOA.
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Claimed: ““The contested publications contain false information that the plaintiff [Yevgeny Prigozhin] is affiliated with the Wagner Group, finances it, and that the Wagner Group belongs to him.”” — rated False by VOA.
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Awarded Hero of the Russian Federation (2022).
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Awarded Person of the Year in Organized Crime and Corruption (Ironic denominación, not a real award) (2022).
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On 20 February 2022, Prigozhin's daughter Veronika took part in equestrian competitions in Spain.
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2020· 1 entry
Awarded Order of the Two Niles (2020).
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2019· 2 entries
Claimed: ““At the Defense Ministry, which I have no connection with, I cannot negotiate the financing/supply of a private military contractor that doesn't exist.”” — rated False by VOA.
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In May 2019, Maria Butina (who had earlier pled guilty to acting in the United States as an unregistered agent of a foreign government; specifically the Russian Federation) appealed for help in paying her lawyer fees
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2018· 1 entry
And was also awarded the Order of the Two Niles in 2020
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2017· 1 entry
Estimated his illegal wealth to be worth more than one billion rubles
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2014· 4 entries
Awarded Order "For Merit to the Fatherland", 4th class (2014).
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To "protect the Russians" when "the genocide of the Russian population of Donbas began"
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Career landmark: Leader of the Wagner Group (2014–2023).
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Prigozhin reportedly founded the Wagner Group, which was used to support Russian separatist forces in Ukraine
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2013· 1 entry
Involved Dmitry Bykov and the then head of RIA Novosti, Svetlana Mironyuk, while a homepage claiming to fight fake news (Gazeta O Gazetah) was used to spread fake news
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2012· 3 entries
Prigozhin moved his family into a Saint Petersburg compound with a basketball court and a helicopter pad
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Received a contract to supply meals to the Russian military worth US$1
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Started the Crystal Spa & Lounge, a day spa located along Zhukovsky Street in Saint Petersburg, which won a third place award in 2013 for the Perfect Urban Day Spa
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2004· 2 entries
Prigozhin published a children's picture book, with his children listed as co-authors (the book was never put on sale—Prigozhin handed out the book to friends and associates as a gift)
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In 2004, Prigozhin published a children's picture book, with his children listed as co-authors (the book was never put on sale—Prigozhin handed out the book to friends and associates as a gift).
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2003· 1 entry
Putin celebrated his birthday at New Island
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2001· 1 entry
Prigozhin personally served food to Vladimir Putin and French president Jacques Chirac when they dined at New Island
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1997· 1 entry
Founded a second restaurant, New Island, a floating restaurant that became one of the most fashionable dining spots in the city
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1995· 1 entry
Prigozhin entered the restaurant business
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1990· 1 entry
Prigozhin began selling hot dogs alongside his mother and stepfather at the Apraksin Dvor open-air market in Leningrad
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1988· 1 entry
The Supreme Court of the Soviet Union reduced his sentence to ten years on good behavior, noting that he had begun "corrective behavior"
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1985· 1 entry
Where he started to "read intensively" and worked as a lathe operator, tractor driver, and cabinet maker after receiving training at a vocational school
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1981· 1 entry
Was sentenced to twelve years' imprisonment in a high-security penal colony for robbery, theft, fraud, and involving minors in criminal activity
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1980· 1 entry
Returned to Leningrad and joined a gang
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1979· 1 entry
18-year-old Prigozhin was caught stealing and was given a suspended sentence of two years and six months in prison
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1961· 3 entries
Born 1961-06-01.
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“, The Washington Post (24 May, 2023) I have never been a chef; I used to be a restaurateur and quite successful. I can”
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“on France24 On 24 February [2022] there was nothing extraordinary happening there. Now the Ministry of Defence is trying to deceive the public, deceive the president and tell a story that there was some crazy aggression by Ukraine, that - together with the whole Nato bloc - Ukraine was planning to attack us.The war was needed... so that [Sergei] Shoigu could become a Marshal, so that he could get a second Hero Star… the war wasn”
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