He once sold hot dogs after serving time in prison for robbery and fraud.. Since that time, Yevgeny Prigozhin has rapidly risen in Russian society, gaining great wealth.. And last year he became one of the key players in the war started by his close friend Vladimir Putin..

The 61-year-old Russian businessman, nicknamed " A small city with a salt mine in the Donbass became the first military achievement of Russia since the summer of 2022. However, now the owner of Wagner PMC has begun to lose influence in the Russian war against Ukraine.. His political appetites began to grow. Because of this, cracks appeared in Prigozhin's relationship with the Kremlin, writes Newsweek..

Brawls over defeats on the battlefield in Ukraine are becoming more frequent. Prigozhin praises his mercenaries, calling them the most effective force in the war, despite the fact that they could not make much progress in Bakhmut, which Wagner threw its fighters into the unsuccessful assault for six months.. The mercenaries who played a big role in the current aggression against Ukraine and also helped the Russian army to annex Crimea in 2014 now seem to play a lesser role in operations near Bakhmut. Putin is phasing out the Wagner in favor of regular Russian army soldiers and government officials.

“In this way, the Kremlin seems to be sending a very public signal to Prigozhin: the Russian Defense Ministry controls the conflict and can end the war without him,” the article says..

Prigogine's ambitions.

Ever since " A jailed St. Petersburg native quickly earned a reputation in the war after a video surfaced showing him recruiting mercenaries in Russian prisons.. This video appeared just when it became known that Russia did not have enough soldiers for the war against Ukraine.

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For months, Prigozhin recruited imprisoned Russians, promising them the abolition of sentences and a lot of money for 6 months of participation in the war. To do this, he had to convince Putin to secretly sign a pardon. Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) senior researcher Joana de Deus Pereira explained that at the start of the war, there was a mostly commercial relationship between the Kremlin and Wagner.. According to her, the paramilitary formation at first seemed to be a "

“When Prigozhin finally admitted that he was a sponsor of Wagner, one can trace the clear construction of a political character. Now Prigozhin has become much more dangerous as a politician than he would like,” the RUSI expert explained..

Newsweek writes that Prigozhin's relationship with the Kremlin began to unravel as the businessman began presenting himself as a military and political solution..

“He sees himself as a minister of defense or someone of high rank in the Kremlin, someone prominent and respectful enough to be rewarded for what he has done for the country,” De Deus Pereira explained..

Vlad Mikhnenko, an expert on post-communist transformation in Eastern Europe and the post-Soviet space at the University of Oxford, said Prigozhin appeared to have decided he needed a bigger public role in Russia..

“He is no longer satisfied with the fact that he is just a shadow contract in the private sector. Looks like he wants something bigger, a more serious official job,"

De Deus Pereira added that Wagner is losing influence because " At this time, Prigozhin's motive is "

" But if he speaks about his political aspirations, he will be killed at the same moment.. He desperately wants to be seen as a hero. And if this happens, he will have the approval of Russian public opinion.. Therefore, he needs to become not just an instrument of war, but a hero,” the RUSI expert explained..

Soledar ignited tension.

After the occupation of Soledar, Prigozhin posted a video praising his mercenaries as " Tensions arose when Putin attributed the success in Soledar to the Russian Ministry of Defense, without mentioning Wagner at all.. Prigozhin accused the ministry of trying to belittle the role of mercenaries in the occupation of the Ukrainian city and belittling their achievements.

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Before announcing the occupation of Soledar, he published another video on his Telegram channel, filmed in a salt mine near the city. According to De Deus Pereira, this was the most daring demonstration of Prigozhin's political ambitions..

“If you look at the symbolism, then everything that Prigozhin does makes sense. He had a bag of salt and he paid salt to someone in the car.. He actually said that he controlled not only the mines, but also the villages and residents of Soledar. The message was clear: he controls not only the area, but also the people. He wanted to convey this message to his Russian compatriots,” she said..

According to the expert, Prigozhin's goal is to benefit from his participation in the war and become a central figure in Russian politics.. Mikhnenko is convinced that Prigozhin used Soledar to save his image against the backdrop of Wagner's defeats in Bakhmut.

“He used Soledar as a replacement, the price was less. But he announced this big victory, realizing that Bakhmut was and remains unattainable,” the expert explained..

"

The war dragged on, and the Wagner lost a significant number of soldiers in the terrible battle for Bakhmut. Prigozhin faced difficulties in recruiting new recruits. The decrease in the number of prisoners in Russia in the period from November 2022 to January 2023 was about the same as in previous years, the Russian edition of Mediazona reported, citing statistics from the Federal Penitentiary Service.. In November, the service recorded a decrease in the number of prisoners by 23 thousand in two months, during which Prigozhin actively recruited men behind bars.. In December, David Whelan, brother of ex-Marine Paul Whelan, imprisoned in Russia, said he had learned of Wagner's unsuccessful attempts to convince convicts to go to war..

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"

This means that the battle for Bakhmut reduced the status of Prigozhin's mercenaries, who were previously considered elite fighters.. Mikhnenko noted that " And that's not a very good ad..

Prigogine stepped aside.

According to Mikhnenko, a vivid example of Putin's dismissive attitude towards Prigozhin happened during the visit of the Russian president to St. Petersburg in January.. Then there were no “obvious meetings with Prigogine… although he asked for a meeting”. Putin held a working meeting with Governor Alexander Beglov on January 18. They discussed the creation of volunteer battalions to be sent to the war against Ukraine.

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The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) explained that Beglov is " The owner of Wagner PMC once campaigned to get the governor removed from office.

Mikhnenko pointed to a photo published by the Kremlin. On it, Putin stands next to Beglov. And this, in his opinion, is "

“The Kremlin is trying to stuff the genie back into the bottle by passing the Wagner through a meat grinder in Bakhmut and cutting them off… Prigozhin is told that they can end the war without him,” the expert explained.