Who is Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin? How was the mercenary group started? And how could its rebellion against Russia's military leaders affect the war in Ukraine?
What is the Wagner Group?
Wagner was named after the nickname of its first commander, Dmitry Utkin, a retired lieutenant colonel of the Russian military’s special forces. T-shirts bearing images of mercenary group Wagner are seen in a gift shop on downtown Arbat street in Moscow on May 12, 2023. President Vladimir Putin on Jun 24, 2023 said an armed mutiny by Wagner mercenaries was a "stab in the back" and that the group's chief Yevgeny Prigozhin had betrayed Russia. Wagner took an increasingly visible role in the war as regular Russian troops suffered heavy attrition and lost territory in humiliating setbacks.
The US assesses that Wagner is spending about US$100 million a month in the fight. In December, Washington accused North Korea of supplying weapons, including rockets and missiles, to the Russian company in violation of UN Security Council resolutions.Founder of Wagner private mercenary group Yevgeny Prigozhin speaks inside the headquarters of the Russian southern army military command centre in the city of Rostov-on-Don, Russia in this still image taken from a video released Jun 24, 2023.
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Who is Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin?He has risen from prisoner to hotdog seller to 'Putin's chef' to mercenary. Read more at straitstimes.com.
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