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Yevgeny Prigozhin was a Russian mercenary leader and oligarch. He was born on June 1, 1961, and he was a close confidant of Russian President Vladimir Putin. However, he rebelled in June 2023. He was the only child of his parents and his parents were Violetta Kirovna Prigozhina, a hospital nurse and Viktor Yevgenyevich Prigozhin, a mining engineer.
Viktor Yevgenyevich Prigozhin died when Yevgeny Prigozhin was only nine years old.
Yevgeny Prigozhin was the head of the Wagner Group private military company. Yevgeny Prigozhin founded Wagner Group in 2014 and it had the focus to support pro-Russian paramilitaries in Ukraine.
It had Its source of funding from the Russian state. The company headed by Yevgeny Prigozhin helped Russia in the invasion of Ukraine
While he was close to Russian president Vladimir Putin, he was referred to as “Putin’s chef” This was because he owned restaurants and catering businesses that served the Kremlin.
It must be noted that Yevgeny Prigozhin was once a convict in the Soviet Union. He had under control, a network of influential companies whose operations, according to a 2020 investigation, were “tightly integrated with Russia’s Defence Ministry and its intelligence arm, the GRU.
He also confirmed his company’s interference in the United States election in November 2022. Yevgeny Prigozhin also indicated that he was the founder and manager of the Internet Research Agency. Internet Research Agency is a Russian company that runs online propaganda and disinformation campaigns.
The European Union (EU) imposed sanctions against Prigozhin for his financing of the Wagner Group’s activities in Libya in October 2020 and subsequently in April 2022, he was also slapped with further sanctions due to his role in the invasion of Ukraine by Russia.
A reward of $250,000 was up for grabs for any information that would lead to his arrest.
Yevgeny Prigozhin Cause of Death
Yevgeny Prigozhin died on August 23, 2023. He was 62 years old at the time of his death. He died in an airplane crash.
The airplane was moving from Moscow to Saint Petersburg when it crashed.
All the 10 people on the airplane died. The death of the passengers on the airplane were officially confirmed by the Investigative Committee of Russia.
Marriage
Yevgeny Prigozhin was married to Lyubov Valentinovna Prigozhina. Lyubov Valentinovna Prigozhina was a pharmacist and businesswoman. She also owned a network of boutique stores known as the Chocolate Museum. She started Crystal Spa & Lounge in 2012.
Lyubov Valentinovna Prigozhina also owns a wellness center in the Leningrad region and a boutique hotel called the Crystal Spa & Residence which won the Perfect Spa Project award in 2013. New Technologies SPA LLC and Agat are hers. Yevgeny Prigozhin and Lyubov Valentinovna Prigozhina had three children.
