Cult surrounding dead Wagner boss Prigozhin's legacy continues to burden Russia

Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the notorious Russian private army Wagner, died in a plane crash under mysterious circumstances. He is still revered by his followers.

Keystone-SDA

21.06.2024, 09:45

24.06.2024, 08:34

SDA

Yevgeny Prigozhin stands as an almost life-size monument in the Porokhovskoye cemetery in St. Petersburg. The statue of the head of the Russian private army, Wagner, with outstretched hand attracts followers in droves. They reach for his hand, lower their heads and pause in silence. Many lay down red carnations - even days after Prigozhin's birthday, who would have turned 63 on June 1.

A year ago, on June 23, 2023, he instigated an uprising against Russia's corrupt military leadership, failed - and died in a plane crash two months later, according to official reports.

The grave, around ten kilometers from the center of the metropolis, has become a place of pilgrimage. To this day, many Russians still venerate the wealthy businessman, a convicted thief, close former confidant of Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin and founder of the infamous Wagner mercenary army. Prigozhin came to wealth as a restaurant owner, real estate mogul and food supplier for schools, kindergartens and the military. Because of his gastronomic activities, many called him "Putin's chef".

Wagner mercenary still active in new structures

Prigozhin was considered a master of disinformation and deception. With his internationally active internet troll factory, he was suspected in the USA of having interfered in presidential elections. The USA had therefore issued an alert for him.

Prigozhin's Wagner army was not only deployed in the Ukraine war, but also in Syria before that. Above all, however, it was heavily involved in the many conflicts in Africa. There, Prigozhin was always seen as Putin's man for the rough stuff. And it is not only there that the Wagner mercenaries are criticized for the most serious crimes against humanity.

International observers assume that the structures set up by Prigozhin are still active in Africa - for Russia's expansionist ambitions. After his death, the Kremlin quickly made it clear that it would continue to fight for Russia's interests there.

Cult around dead Wagner boss

It is not only in Prigozhin's home town of St. Petersburg that the cult of the entrepreneur is alive and well - even though his company empire, headed by the Konkord company, has been destroyed. In Moscow, people lay flowers at an improvised memorial near the Kremlin. There are also memorials to the Wagner troupe in other places.

A flower seller sits at the entrance to the Porokhovskoye cemetery. She is pleased that business has been good since Prigozhin's funeral. It's a few hundred meters to the grave. Arrows point the way. Men in motorcycle gear, tough guys in camouflage or just couples come with red carnations. Some say that they revere Prigozhin because he was a true patriot who fought for a strong Russia.

On the sunny day, workers are laying fine slabs in the rough terrain to make it easier for pedestrians to reach the grave. There is a Russian tricolor flag, a flag of the Wagner troop and wreaths of flowers. An elderly man on a bicycle says that he often comes to the grave. He complains that the authorities have not explained anything about the circumstances since the plane crash on August 23.

Mystery surrounding the death

"There are still so many questions," says the 63-year-old. Like many in Russia, he thinks that the plane crash was an act of revenge by the power apparatus because Prigozhin had instigated an uprising against the corrupt Moscow military leadership, which failed just one day later on June 24. Quite a few Russians believe that Prigozhin is still alive and continues to do business in Africa or elsewhere. "I don't believe that, he couldn't be sitting there somewhere abroad quietly without interfering, he would take care of Russia," says the man.

Putin himself suggested that the Wagner management had improperly handled a grenade on board the plane, which then exploded. However, it is also widely believed that the Russian air defense system could have deliberately shot down the plane. Russia has rejected an international investigation into the crash of Prigozhin's private plane in the Russian region of Tver, in which nine other passengers also died.

Putin later had thousands of Wagner mercenaries, who had been fighting in Ukraine for months, integrated into the regular armed forces. And, as if to prove Prigozhin right posthumously, the president recently replaced Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu - and had several representatives of the military leadership arrested for corruption and abuse of office. But another legacy also continues to weigh on Russia.

Wagner mercenaries continue to spread terror in Russia

With Putin's permission, Prigozhin had recruited tens of thousands of fighters in penal camps who were able to buy their way out of their guilt by going to war in Ukraine. The convicted criminals, including several murderers, were released after six months if they survived. Putin pardoned tens of thousands of them. Since then, society has been repeatedly shaken by the crimes of these war returnees. They often attack their wives, mothers, sisters or even non-belonging relatives.

In April, officers in the Leningrad region arrested a 42-year-old Wagner mercenary who had killed and dismembered his girlfriend after an argument. The Wagner army had recruited the murderer, who had been sentenced to twelve years in prison, from a penal camp.

Prigozhin had always played down the risk of an increase in crime by criminals released after the war. However, experts from the organization nasiliu.net - No to violence - fear an increase in domestic violence, especially in the future, when more of these men with possible post-traumatic stress disorder return to their old lives.

Revealing book on Prigozhin

In their book "Nasch Business Smert" (in German: "Our business is death") about Prigozhin and his Wagner troupe, Russian journalists Ilya Barabanov and Denis Korotkov use documents and testimonies from mercenaries to trace the machinations of the private army, which was characterized by corruption. More than 20,000 Wagner fighters are said to have died in Ukraine alone.

According to the book, Prigozhin was an adventurer, a murderer, an insurgent who, as the leader of a patriotic opposition, ultimately terrified Putin - and was therefore eliminated. The authors conclude that Prigozhin's life is a perfect example of the "mechanisms of a mafia-like state" under Vladimir Putin.