Yevgeny Prigozhin was born on June 1, 1961 in Leningrad (St. Petersburg) - in the past, he is a Russian military figure, entrepreneur, restaurateur, owner of a catering business and Wagner PMC.
Prigozhin was considered one of the close associates of the russian dictator vladimir putin, one of the key figures in russia's war with Ukraine: the founder of the troll factory from Olgino.
In 2016, he took 106th place in the russian federation with an estimated fortune of RUB 7.14 billion.
Prigozhin was born and raised in the family of Violetta Prigozhina, his father died early.
He has Jewish roots.
In 1977, he graduated from a sports boarding school, engaged in ski races, to which he was trained by his stepfather, ski instructor Samuil Zharkoy.
On November 29, 1979, Prigozhin was sentenced to a suspended prison term for theft (Article 144 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic), and in 1981 to 12 years in prison for robbery and fraud (Articles 146 and 147). Released early after serving 9 years of his sentence.
He graduated from the St. Petersburg State Chemical and Pharmaceutical Academy with a degree of pharmacist.
In 1990, he organized a chain selling hot dogs in Leningrad, and later opened several stores and restaurants in St. Petersburg.
Since the 2000s, he has been involved in construction projects. Prigozhin was called "putin's chef" because of his large food business, which earns from government contracts.
According to media reports, he is related to the head of Wagner private military company (PMC), Dmitry Utkin, among whose entourage the head of the security service of one of Prigozhin's firms was discovered.
On August 14, 2022, after the shelling of the PMC base in Popasna, Luhansk Region, unconfirmed information about Prigozhin's injury appeared, which Prigozhin later denied.
On September 15, 2022, Prigozhin confirmed that Wagner PMC was fighting in the Bakhmut axis.
On September 26, 2022, Prigozhin admitted his involvement in the creation of Wagner PMC.
On February 3, 2023, the Prosecutor General’s Office of Ukraine served Prigozhin with suspicion. The head of the Wagner military group is charged with encroachment on the territorial integrity and inviolability of Ukraine and waging an aggressive war (Part 3 of Article 110, Part 2 of Article 28, Part 2 of Article 437 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).
In the summer of 2020, the U.S. FBI declared Prigozhin wanted, and in February 2021, it promised a reward of USD 250,000 for information leading to his arrest.
On April 21, 2022, the EU introduced personal sanctions against Prigozhin for his role in undermining the territorial integrity of Ukraine.
On October 19, 2022, Prigozhin was added to Ukraine's sanctions list.
On June 23, 2023, putin made a video address to russians, during which he called for an end to the armed rebellion, which he considers a blow in the back, and called Prigozhin a traitor.
Prigozhin was married, he was survived by his son Pavel and daughters Polina and Veronika.
As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, putin took revenge for the humiliation with a mutiny and gave the order to destroy the leadership of the Wagner PMC.
Yevgeny Prigozhin and the commander of the Wagner PMC, Dmitry Utkin, were killed during a plane crash in the Tver Oblast. Allegedly, their bodies have already been identified.
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