His name was Yevgeny Prigozhin; his nickname was “Putin’s Chef.” He had built a commercial empire that included a catering business that counted among its customers Vladimir Putin himself.

But his real business was murder.

He was the founder and head of the notorious Wagner Group, headquartered in his native St. Petersburg, Russia. It openly operated as a mercenary paramilitary force, despite such organizations being technically outlawed in Russia.

But when Vladimir Putin is your best customer, and your good friend, laws are of no consequence.

The Wagner Group was known to operate in a number of African and Middle Eastern countries that regularly receive “assistance” from Russia, including Syria, Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso, and the Central African Republic (C.A.R.). But they were not limited to that region, and sent troops to serve alongside the Russian military when Putin invaded Ukraine in 2022, where their unimaginable atrocities came to the attention of the world press.

Prigozhin himself was in favor of the war; but he felt that Putin’s generals were not managing it properly — he considered them to be too soft, not aggressive enough for his taste. So he staged a revolt, leading a group of his men from Rostov toward Moscow, where he intended to confront Putin and demand changes in the military command. The history of that revolt is well documented: to put it most succinctly, it failed. Somewhere along the way, Prigozhin gave up, and many weeks of confusion followed as to his status, and even his whereabouts from one day to the next.

And on August 23, 2023, his private jet took off from an airport near Moscow with ten people aboard . . . and crashed just 100 km. away in Tver Oblast, killing Prigozhin, several of his top Wagner officers, and the plane’s crew.

Officially, the crash was written off as an accident due to “structural failure,” though Western intelligence said the evidence pointed to a bomb explosion. It is widely accepted — nearly everywhere in the world other than in the Kremlin — that it was a politically-motivated assassination.

No matter how close your friendship, or how good your catering may be, you simply do not make Putin look bad . . . not if you value your life. I thought everyone knew that.

Prigozhin must have forgotten.

*. *. *

In any event, that left the Wagner Group with a beautiful new HQ building, a lot of battle-ready troops, and — from all reports — a substantial list of assets, but no leader. After a period of uncertainty during which various names were tossed into the ring as possible successors to Prigozhin, with his son being the most likely contender, Wagner Group eventually became known as The Africa Corps (not to be confused with Rommel’s Afrika Korps from WW2). It is now said to be under the direct control of the Russian Ministry of Defense.

And they are still raising hell in Africa.

*. *. *

Yevgeny Prigozhin’s far-flung business interests have survived their founder. In the C.A.R., they bring in hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue from diamond and gold mining, timber harvesting, weapons trafficking, and other sources — revenue desperately needed by the impoverished country — in exchange for services that include providing security for the nation’s autocratic president. [Jean-Fernand Koena, Maja Zivanovic and Mike Eckel, RFE/RL, February 9, 2025.]

But raping the country of its natural resources isn’t enough to keep the Wagner troops busy. They have become a paramilitary police force, guilty of the most atrocious human rights violations and other crimes, and operating completely outside the law. According to a 2023 report by The Sentry (a U.S.-based research organization):

“Wagner has perfected a blueprint for state capture, supporting a criminalized state hijacked by the Central African president and his inner circle, amassing military power, securing access to and plundering precious minerals, and subduing the population with terror.” [Id.]

The people of C.A.R. live in constant fear of the Russian troops. A shopkeeper in a village two hours from the capital of Bangui — identified only as Adam — said in a September interview:

“Imagine what [little] power you have when people come with weapons and they don’t speak your langage. Am I supposed to just wait until they come back again? Who knows what’s going to happen if they do come back?”

Adam’s store has been ransacked and robbed by “white guys with tattoos and face masks” who spoke Russian. “Outside of the capital … a lot of people are suffering there and no one seems to know [about it]. It’s my case but it’s also the case of many more people in different places and regions.” [Id.]

Originally brought to the C.A.R. in 2018 to provide security and training services to the Touadera government, evidence gathered since then by activists, reporters and the United Nations has revealed criminal acts including murder, torture, execution, abductions, rape and theft on the part of the Wagner/Africa Corps forces. [Id.]

In 2021, when a coalition of rebel groups attempted a coup against the Touadera regime, it was Wagner who helped to defeat the rebels. Afterward, the Russian ambassador to the C.A.R., Vladimir Titorenko, had this to say:

“ . . . the Russian soldiers will remain until the [opposition] rebels and the bandits of the armed groups are completely wiped out.” [Id.]

The Russians are still there.

Under the umbrella of Russia’s Defense Ministry — and thus under the control of Vladimir Putin — the Africa Corps operates with impunity to prop up the brutal Touadera regime. And all of that money from diamonds, gold, timber, and whatever else they can get their hands on keeps rolling in to the Kremlin’s coffers to support its economy . . . including its ongoing war in Ukraine.

Business as usual.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
2/12/25