Yevgeny Prigozhin, the man who led a failed mutiny against the Russian Army in June, has been confirmed dead alongside nine others in a plane that crashed in Russia on Wednesday.
Prizoghin, who is also the leader of the mercenary group, Wagner, was believed to be on board the plane, NjenjeMediaNews reports, according to the BBC.
Here are things you need to know about the 62-year-old.
1. Born in 1961, in St. Petersburg, Prigozhin reportedly spent his 20s in a Soviet prison where he served nine years for robbery and fraud.
2. After his release from prison, he went into selling hot dogs in his hometown.
3. He later moved to bigger projects, such as a luxurious restaurant in St. Petersburg, which became a hub for Russian elites, including then-deputy mayor, Vladimir Putin.
4. He earned himself the nickname, “Putin’s chef” for getting awarded exclusive and lucrative government catering contracts for state dinners under the Russian Leader.
5. In 2014, Prigozhin set up a private military company Wagner Group.
6. Though he denied any involvement with the group until September 2022, when he admitted to having formed the unit.
7. The group was first officially acknowledged by Putin last year after the capture of Bakhmut.
8. But in June of this year, he got on the wrong side of Putin by launching an armed rebellion in Moscow, calling for the country’s top military brass to step down over their handling of the war with Ukraine.
9. The mutiny was quickly stopped after Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko brokered a deal between the two men, which resulted in Prigozhin being exiled to Belarus.
