Yevgeny Prigozhin

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Flowers are laid at the statue of Russian mercenaries as a tribute to the late Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin in Bangui, Central African Republic, on March. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Sam Mednick)

The U.S.-Russia battle for influence in Africa plays out in Central African Republic

By Sam Mednick - Associated Press

A Russian officer who goes by Yevgeny speaks during an interview at his apartment in Astana, Kazakhstan, in late 2023. He had a friend shoot him in the leg so he could get out off the frontline in Ukraine. "Many of my friends have died. And these were really good guys who didn't want to fight," he said. "But there was no way out for them." (AP Photo)

Russian soldiers who quit Putin’s war get no hero’s welcome abroad as asylum claims surge

By Erika Kinetz - Associated Press

Yevgeny Prigozhin, the owner of the Wagner Group military company, arrives during a funeral ceremony at the Troyekurovskoye cemetery in Moscow, Russia, Saturday, April 8, 2023. From a hot dog vendor to head of the formidable mercenary army Wagner Group, Prigozhin's rise through Russian society could easily be described as meteoric. But it all came to a sudden end when the plane carrying him and others mysteriously exploded on Aug 23, 2023. (AP Photo, file)

Year in review: Influential people who died in 2023

By Bernard McGhee - Associated Press

Yevgeny Prigozhin, the owner of the Wagner Group military company, arrives during a funeral ceremony at the Troyekurovskoye cemetery in Moscow, Russia, Saturday, April 8, 2023. From a hot dog vendor to head of the formidable mercenary army Wagner Group, Prigozhin's rise through Russian society could easily be described as meteoric. But it all came to a sudden end when the plane carrying him and others mysteriously exploded on Aug 23, 2023. (AP Photo, file)

Final goodbye: Recalling influential people who died in 2023

By Bernard McGhee - Associated Press

FILE - In this image taken from video, smoke rises from the crash of a private jet near the village of Kuzhenkino in the Tver region of Russia, on Wednesday, Aug. 23, 2023. Mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the Wagner Group, and his top lieutenants were among the 10 people killed in the crash northwest of the Russian capital. (AP Photo, File)

Hand grenade fragments were found in the bodies of victims in Prigozhin’s plane crash, Putin claims

Associated Press

Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, meets with Russian Deputy Defense Minister Yunus-Bek Yevkurov, second right, and Chairman of the St. Petersburg regional public organization "League for the Protection of the Interests of Veterans of Local Wars and Military Conflicts" retired Col. Andrey Troshev in Moscow, Russia, Thursday, Sept. 28, 2023. (Mikhail Metzel, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

Putin orders former Wagner commander to take charge of ‘volunteer units’ in Ukraine

Associated Press

In this photo released by the Belarusian Defense Ministry on Thursday, July 20, 2023, soldiers of the Special Operations Forces and mercenary fighters from the Wagner private military company pose for a photo amid maneuvers at a firing range near the border city of Brest, Belarus. After a brief rebellion in June by Russian mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, several thousand of his forces moved to Belarus where they set up a field camp and helped train the Belarusian army. (Belarus Defense Ministry via AP, File)

A month after Prigozhin’s suspicious death, the Kremlin is silent on his plane crash and legacy

Associated Press

Illustration on Vladimir Putin by Alexander Hunter/The Washington Times

Comedian Vladimir Putin talks about weaponization of government

By R. Emmett Tyrrell Jr.

Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs a State Council meeting on public transport development at the Kremlin, in Moscow, Russia, Thursday, Aug. 17, 2023. (Valery Sharifulin, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP) **FILE**

Putin pauses before his ruthless revenge; calculating pattern shows timing critical to take action

By Ben Wolfgang - The Washington Times

Members of the Wagner Group military company sit atop a tank on a street in Rostov-on-Don, Russia, Saturday, June 24, 2023, prior to leaving an area at the headquarters of the Southern Military District. The U.K. says it will declare Russia’s Wagner mercenary group a banned terrorist organization. British officials say the group remains a threat to global security even after the death of leader Yevgeny Prigozhin. (AP Photo, File)

The U.K. says it will declare Russia’s Wagner mercenary group a banned terrorist organization

By Jill Lawless - Associated Press

A view of the grave of Dmitry Utkin, who oversaw Wagner Group's military operations, at the Federal Military Memorial Cemetery in Mytishchy, outside Moscow, Russia, Thursday, Aug. 31, 2023. Utkin, whose military call sign Wagner gave the name to the group, is presumed to have died in a plane crash along with Wagner's owner Yevgeny Prigozhin and other military company's officers was buried at the Federal Military Memorial Cemetery in Mytishchy, outside Moscow on Thursday. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)

The Wagner mercenary group’s second-in-command is buried in a quiet Moscow ceremony

Associated Press

A portrait of the owner of private military company Wagner Group Yevgeny Prigozhin is set at an informal street memorial for Wagner Group's military group members killed in a plane crash on Wednesday, near the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, Sunday, Aug. 27, 2023. Prigozhin was aboard a plane that crashed north of Moscow killing all 10 people on board. On Sunday, Russia's Investigative Committee said forensic and genetic testing identified all 10 bodies recovered from the crash, and the identities "conform with the manifest." (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)

The Kremlin says Putin is not planning to attend Wagner chief Prigozhin’s burial

Associated Press

In this image from video provided by the Belarusian Defense Ministry via VoenTV on Friday, July 14, 2023, Belarusian soldiers attend a training by mercenary fighters from Wagner private military company near Tsel village, about 90 kilometers (about 55 miles) southeast of Minsk, Belarus. After Yevgeny Prigozhin's daylong mutiny against Russia's military leadership, the Kremlin cut a deal for him to move to Belarus. A camp for his fighters was erected there, and they trained together with the Belarusian military. Prigozhin in the meantime moved freely between Belarus, Russia and apparently Africa. (Belarusian Defense Ministry via VoenTV via AP, File)

Prigozhin’s final months were overshadowed by questions about what the Kremlin had in store for him

By Dasha Litvinova - Associated Press

FILE - Businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin gestures on the sidelines of a summit meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the Konstantin palace outside St. Petersburg, Russia, on Aug. 9, 2016. Prigozhin was aboard a plane that crashed north of Moscow on Wednesday, Aug. 23, 2023 killing all 10 people on board. On Sunday, Russia's Investigative Committee said forensic and genetic testing identified all 10 bodies recovered from the crash, and the identities “conform with the manifest.” (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, File)

Russia finally confirms that Prigozhin, Wagner Group execs were on doomed plane

By David R. Sands - The Washington Times

In this image from video provided by Prigozhin Press Service on Friday, May 5, 2023, head of Wagner Group Yevgeny Prigozhin stands in front of multiple bodies lying on the ground in an unknown location. Yevgeny Prigozhin's armed revolt against Russia's military leadership posed the greatest challenge to Vladimir Putin's authorities in his 23-year rule. (Prigozhin Press Service via AP, File)

Russia says it confirmed Wagner leader Prigozhin died in a plane crash

Associated Press

U.S. Air Force F-16 fighter jet is on display during the Paris Air Show in Le Bourget, north of Paris, France, Monday, June 19, 2023. The U.S. will start training Ukrainian pilots to fly U.S.-made F-16 fighter jets, beginning at an Air National Guard base in October, the Pentagon said Thursday, Aug. 24. (AP Photo/Lewis Joly, File)

Decorated, outspoken Ukrainian pilot ‘Juice’ dies in training crash, officials say

By Ramsey Touchberry and David R. Sands - The Washington Times

In this image taken from video, President of the Central African Republic Faustin-Archange Touadera arrives at a polling station in Bangui, Central African Republic, Sunday, July 30, 2023. Russia's Wagner Group, a private military company led by Yevgeny Prigozhin, have served as personal bodyguards for President Faustin Archange Touadera, protecting the capital of Bangui from rebel threats and helping secure a July 30 constitutional referendum that could extend his power indefinitely. Prigozhin's presumed death in a plane crash along with some of his top lieutenants raises doubts about the future of the military contractor. (AP Photo)

Russia’s Wagner mercenaries face uncertainty after the presumed death of their leader in plane crash

Associated Press

A portrait of the owner of private military company Wagner Group Yevgeny Prigozhin lays at an informal memorial next to the former "PMC Wagner Centre" in St. Petersburg, Russia, Thursday, Aug. 24, 2023. Russia's civil aviation agency says mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin was aboard a plane that crashed north of Moscow. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky)

‘An absolute lie’: Kremlin angrily rejects accusations Putin behind Prigozhin plane crash

By Ben Wolfgang - The Washington Times

Yevgeny Prigozhin, top, serves food to then-Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin at Prigozhin's restaurant outside Moscow, Russia, on Nov. 11, 2011. Prigozhin made his name as the profane and brutal mercenary boss who mounted an armed rebellion that was the most severe and shocking challenge to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s rule. (AP Photo/File)

Wagner mercenary leader, Russian mutineer, ‘Putin’s chef’: The many sides of Yevgeny Prigozhin

Associated Press

A fighter of the Wagner private military force places flowers at an informal memorial next to the former "PMC Wagner Centre" in St. Petersburg, Russia, Thursday, Aug. 24, 2023. Russian mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin and some of his top lieutenants were presumed dead in a plane crash. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky)

Wagner Group members vow revenge for death of mercenary army founder Prigozhin

By Mike Glenn - The Washington Times