By Axios’ Dave Lawler and Ivana Saric write
A former convict, Prigozhin has known Putin since the 1990s, when he was running a restaurant in St. Petersburg and Putin was a rising politician, .
After Putin took power, Prigozhin won so many government contracts that he was nicknamed “Putin’s chef.”
His interests soon stretched far beyond catering. He was indicted in the U.S. in 2018 for his role in running the Internet Research Agency, which spread disinformation online during the 2016 election campaign. He remains on the FBI’s most-wanted list.
For years, Prigozhin denied any links to Wagner, but he has become the group’s public face — and the Russian military’s most vicious critic — since the invasion.
Prigozhin’s Wagner forces became a key part of the war effort, particularly in the long and brutal battle for Bakhmut, but most had since moved to Belarus and are reportedly training soldiers there.
