In Russia the tribute to Prigozhin one year after Wagner’s coup. “Great man”

Exactly one year after Yevgeny Prigozhin sent his Wagner mercenaries marching towards Moscow in a mutiny against the Russian military leadership, Russians speak of the late Wagner founder with “respect” and “admiration.” Prigozhin died in a mysterious plane crash two months after ordering the brief uprising that took place from 23 to 24 June 2023. Despite being responsible for a coup, what has so far been the greatest challenge ever launched in 25 years in power of President Vladimir Putin, Prigozhin and Wagner continue to command respect among Muscovites.

“He did a lot for Russia in a difficult time,” Aleksandr Ulyanov, who works as a janitor, told the AFP agency, calling the late mercenary leader a “great man”. Wagner was involved in some of Russia’s longest and bloodiest military actions in Ukraine, including the battle for the nearly destroyed city of Bakhmut. Prigozhin is alive “in our hearts,” Ulyanov added, comparing him to historical generals such as Mikhail Kutuzov, who led Russian soldiers during the Napoleonic wars.

A former hot dog seller and convicted criminal, Prigozhin met Putin in the 1990s, later running restaurant businesses serving the Kremlin. Nicknamed “Putin’s chef”, his influence grew rapidly as he won several government contracts, eventually founding the Wagner Group in 2014 to support Russian paramilitaries in eastern Ukraine. After his death, for which the Kremlin categorically denied any responsibility, Putin praised Prigozhin as a “talented businessman” who made “serious mistakes.” In an attempt to oust Moscow’s military leaders, Prigozhin’s fighters had managed to take control of the Russian army headquarters in the southern city of Rostov-on-Don. On their march towards the capital they had also shot down military planes. The march then stopped halfway, with Belarus intervening to broker an agreement to put an end to the uprising which lasted less than 24 hours in total.