Russia, the Wagner Group and the Fall of Yevgeny Prigozhin.

In this episode, Mark sits down with Professor Mark Galeotti, to discuss his new book, co-authored with Anna Arutunyan, ‘Downfall: Prigozhin, Putin, and the new fight for the future of Russia’.

The life of Yevgeny Prigozhin was nothing if not extraordinary. After an earlier stint in prison in Russia, he turned his hands to business, became a catering magnate, then a troll master, and finally the leader of the infamous Wagner PMC (Private Military Contractor).

The actions of the Wagner Group in places like Mali, the Central African Republic and other countries in Africa led to it being designated a transnational organized criminal group by the US in early 2023, whilst it was locked in a fierce battle with Ukrainian forces in the city of Bakhmut, Ukraine.

At the same time, Prigozhin was involved in a very public war of words with the Russia MoD, particularly with then Minister of Defence and close associate of President Putin, Sergei Shoigu. This spat eventually boiled over and led to Prigozhin’s ill-fated ‘March of Justice’ in 2023 which made it to the very edge of Moscow. This catastrophic decision ultimately led to his death, alongside several other members of the Wagner leadership, in a dramatic plane crash a few months later.

In this episode Mark Galeotti sits down with Mark Shaw to talk about Yevgeny Prigozhin, his life and career, his turbulent relationship with certain members of the Russian elite, his posthumous reinvention as the ultimate Russian patriot, where he sits in the arc of Russian history and the future of the Wagner Group without him.

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Mark Galeotti’s book ‘Downfall: Prigozhin, Putin, and the new fight for the future of Russia’ is available here: https://amzn.eu/d/jiIaqS8

Audible version: https://amzn.eu/d/9Tb9MIE

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