March 29, 2024

Columbus Post

Complete News World

Wagner boss Prigozhin consolidates his power – take down Putin?

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Yevgeny Prokhishin (61, left) with Vladimir Putin (70): They have been comrades for decades. But there are doubts that “Putin’s chef” is loyal to the president.

As the head of a private army of thousands of mercenaries and convicts recruited from prison, Yevgeny Prigozhin, 61, is one of Russia’s most powerful men.

Wagner is a longtime partner of group founder Vladimir Putin (70): they reportedly met in the 1990s. At the time, Prigozhin served 13 years in prison for theft and other crimes and now runs a restaurant in Putin’s hometown of St. Petersburg.