Overview

Yevgeny Viсtorovich Prigozhin was the head of the Wagner Group, a Russian paramilitary organization. Known as “Putin’s Chef,” Prigozhin rose rapidly from working as an ex-convict hotdog seller in 1990 to serving as the Kremlin’s primary source of catering and dining by 1999. In 2013, Prigozhin became the financier of the Internet Research Agency, now infamous for its interference in U.S. elections. An oligarch, Prigozhin owned or was linked to hundreds of companies, predominantly in construction, hydrocarbon extraction, media production, catering, and restaurants. As the leader of the Wagner Group and associated troll farms, Prigozhin played a significant role in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, as well as in conflicts in Syria, Libya, Sudan, Mali, and the Central African Republic (CAR), among other countries.

Prigozhin was born on June 1, 1961, in St. Petersburg, Russia, in what was then the Soviet Union. In 1977, he graduated from a sports-oriented boarding school. In 1980, he was sentenced to 13 years in prison for violent robbery and fraud and was released after a decade. In 1990, he opened a hot dog stand with his stepfather in St. Petersburg. Five years later, in 1995, Prigozhin opened his first fine dining restaurant, the Old Customs House, and created the company with which he would remain closely associated until his death: Concord. In 1997, he opened another restaurant, the New Island, that would go on to serve celebrities and politicians. Between 1999 and 2002, Prigozhin hosted Russian Prime Minister Stepashin and Head of the International Monetary Fund Michel Camdessus, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori, and Putin and U.S. President George W. Bush. Over time, Prigozhin’s business interests expanded. In 2013, he founded the Internet Research Agency, which carried out influence operations, including attempting to interfere with the 2016 U.S. presidential election. He held many limited liability company (LLC) registrations pertaining to construction projects, including Investotel, RITM, and Russian Empire. Prigozhin’s wife, three children, mother, and stepfather—Lyubov Prigozhina (1970), Polina Prigozhina (1992), Pavel Prigozhin (1998), Veronika Prigozhina (2005), Violetta Prigozhina (1939), and Samuel Zharkoy (1932)—were also registered with various companies tied to Prigozhin, many of which have been sanctioned.

From 2014 to 2023, Prigozhin oversaw the expansion and transformation of the Wagner Group into a potent global paramilitary force. Initially deployed as combatants and enforcers in Ukraine following Russia’s annexation of Crimea, the group’s operations rapidly expanded globally. Wagner Group forces played a crucial role in supporting Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad’s regime and subsequently established a presence in countries like Sudan, the CAR, and Libya. In these nations, Wagner provided security and training, facilitated resource extraction, delivered weapons as part of military-technical agreements, and advanced Russia’s global interests. The group became known for its brutal tactics, symbolized by a sledgehammer, a reference to the recorded torture and murder of a Syrian nation in 2017. Wagner forces returned to Ukraine in March 2022 to support Moscow’s war effort, mobilizing desperately needed manpower and successfully capturing cities such as Soledar and Bakhmut, albeit at tremendous human cost. As Prigozhin’s visibility and influence grew, he feuded publicly with the leadership of Russia’s Ministry of Defense, culminating in a short-lived mutiny in June 2023, during which Wagner forces seized key buildings in the city of Rostov-on-Don and marched on Moscow. Two months later, Prigozhin died in a plane crash under mysterious circumstances, leaving behind a complex legacy of mercenary operations and geopolitical intrigue.

Prigozhin’s son, Pavel, inherited the majority of the family’s companies and assets. Despite Prigozhin’s death, many of his entities remain under sanctions imposed by the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Ukraine, and Japan.