In a massive development, Wagner Group chief Yevgeny Prigozhin who was recently granted a pardon by Russia for rebelling against his own country at a time of war against Ukraine has gone untraceable. Multiple reports suggest that Wagner Group chief Yevgeny Prigozhin is either dead or has been lodged in jail after a failed rebellion against Russian President Vladimir Putin. Reports quoted a US military official who first alleged that Yevgeny Prigozhin is dead, however, later it was stated that Wagner Boss is alive and is expected to be lodged in jail. For those who are not aware, sedition and other charges against Yevgeny Prigozhin were dropped by Kremlin and the Wagner Private Military Company (PMC) founder was allowed to leave Russia and settle in Belarus.
Now, coming back to Yevgeny Prigozhin's death reports, it comes days after Russian President Vladimir Putin allegedly met the Wagner Boss. A prominent US media quoted former US General Robert Abrams saying that the meeting too was probably staged. “My personal assessment is that I doubt we’ll see Prigozhin ever again publicly. I think he’ll either be put in hiding, or sent to prison, or dealt with some other way, but I doubt we’ll ever see him again," said Abrams. On being further asked if he thinks Yevgeny Prigozhin is still alive, the former US General said, "I personally don’t think he is, and if he is, he’s in a prison somewhere."
Coming back to Putin's meeting with the Wagner boss, Kremlin stated that Prigozhin and his men met Russian President Vladimir Putin and pledged loyalty to the government five days after the armed mutiny. The three-hour meeting took place June 29 and involved not only Prigozhin but commanders from his Wagner Group military contractor.
Who is Yevgeny Prigozhin?
Wagner boss will leave Russia, charges will be dropped: Kremlin
Talking about the Wagner boss, Yevgeny Prigozhin do not have a 'clean slate' history. Yevgeny Prigozhin was convicted of robbery and assault in 1981. In this case, the Wagner Boss was sentenced to 12 years in prison. After he was released, Yevgeny Prigozhin opened a restaurant business in St. Petersburg in the 1990s. In this eatery, Yevgeny Prigozhin met Vladimir Putin who was then the city’s deputy mayor. Yevgeny Prigozhin's closeness to Putin turned out to be fruitful for him as he developed his catering business and even won many high-profile government contracts. This earned Yevgeny Prigozhin the nickname of "Putin's Chef". Later in the year, he expanded his footprint into other areas like media and also the internet 'troll factory' that led to his indictment in the U.S. for meddling in the 2016 presidential election. Thereafter in January, Yevgeny Prigozhin accepted that he has founded and funded the Wagner company.