Prigozhin was in organized crime before he became a hot dog salesman. Then he became a billionaire. I suspect his success as a hot dog salesman has to do with his his organized crime ties. He became a billionaire by becoming close to Putin and trusted by Putin and was given massive government contracts.
Private military companies in Russia are all about contracts. Yes, the soldiers in them are mercenaries but the companies themselves or organs of Russian state power. It was easier and cheaper to use private military companies in Eastern Ukraine since 2014 and it gave Putin plausible deniability that these weren't really the Russian army. Wagner has fought in Libya, Syria, Central Africa and other places where Russia has wanted to project global power.
Prigozhin got to form Wagner because Putin wanted him to and Putin trusted him.
But it might have been a mistake to give Prigozhin his own fighting force. And seems he was getting too big for other people's tastes. Russia issued a decree recently that all fighters for private military companies would have to sign a contract with the Russian government and thus be under Russian army control.
Prigozhin so this is a threat to him and vowed never to agree. He saw that others were trying to move in and take these contracts from him. Valuable contracts. Prigozhin is also GRU connected. He was part of the whole network. He was Putin's preferred contractor for 20 years now.
I don't see this thase CIA involved. There's just too much history of Russian politics and strife behind it
Prigozhin was in organized crime before he became a hot dog salesman. Then he became a billionaire. I suspect his success as a hot dog salesman has to do with his his organized crime ties. He became a billionaire by becoming close to Putin and trusted by Putin and was given massive government contracts.
Private military companies in Russia are all about contracts. Yes, the soldiers in them are mercenaries but the companies themselves or organs of Russian state power. It was easier and cheaper to use private military companies in Eastern Ukraine since 2014 and it gave Putin plausible deniability that these weren't really the Russian army. Wagner has fought in Libya, Syria, Central Africa and other places where Russia has wanted to project global power.
Prigozhin got to form Wagner because Putin wanted him to and Putin trusted him.
But it might have been a mistake to give Prigozhin his own fighting force. And seems he was getting too big for other people's tastes. Russia issued a decree recently that all fighters for private military companies would have to sign a contract with the Russian government and thus be under Russian army control.
Prigozhin so this is a threat to him and vowed never to agree. He saw that others were trying to move in and take these contracts from him. Valuable contracts. Prigozhin is also GRU connected. He was part of the whole network. He was Putin's preferred contractor for 20 years now.
I don't see this thase CIA involved. There's just too much history of Russian politics and strife behind it