Yevgueni Prigojine died on Wednesday August 23, 2023 in the crash of a private plane in Russia, according to the Russian aviation administration which confirmed that the founder of Wagner was with nine other people on board the machine which crashed. According to the emergency services, there are no survivors. Yevgueni Prigozhin was known for his mercenary company: the Wagner group. An organization well established in several countries on the African continent: the Central African Republic, Mali and Libya.
4 mins
His death in a plane crash, Wednesday August 23, 2023 occurs on a date that is not insignificant. Two months ago to the day, the man with a shaved head, sinister mien and chastised language, led an ephemeral mutiny against the Russian authorities following disappointments on the front in Ukraine.
Because precisely, in Ukraine, Yevgeny Prigozhin has established itself in just a few months as the face of war. This thanks to his army of mercenaries recruited largely from Russian prisons in exchange for an amnesty. Haloed by his victory at Bakhmout last May, Evgueni Prigojine dared everything. Until attacking the Russian general staff. No doubt he thought he was untouchable.
From prison to the upper echelons of power
Before arriving at the Ukrainian front which offered him new horizons, Prigojine notably went through prison for nine years for banditry. He left after the fall of the USSR and embarked on the restoration. From fast food to luxury restaurants, he gradually penetrated the circles of power and approached Vladimir Putin until he was nicknamed “Putin’s cook”. Thus, he grows his empire, nourished by juicy public contracts.
In 2013, he founded the Internet Research Agency, which specializes in election interference. Then Wagner in 2014, a new type of private military company combining security, mining, commercial operations, propaganda and political strategy advice.
For years, he will deny being at the head of the group, he who until recently cultivated discretion and clandestinity. But it is in broad daylight that he has shown himself in recent months with his positions in Ukraine and the inauguration of a brand new building in Saint-Petersburg.
Read alsoAborted rebellion of Wagner: “Prigozhin and Putin have lost face in this affair”
Russian influence in Africa
Africa is the scene of its great political victories which mark the return of Russian influence on the continent. Yevgeny Prigozhin said then to work to make Russia ” even greater and Africa, even freer “. It is also “in Africa” that Wagner’s chef made his last appearance a few days ago.
The history of the paramilitary group is intimately linked to the personality of Prigojine, the loyalty he inspired and above all to the hyper financial structure he had set up, in particular through his deep establishment in Africa. With his group, he deployed secretly in Syria, Libya, Sudan, the Central African Republic and Mali. Countries where the men of Prigojine have a good mastery of the field and have known how to make themselves indispensable, both to authoritarian regimes, for which they represent a sort of life insurance, and to the Kremlin, for which they ensure the influence on the continent. at lower cost.
The lightning progression of Russian influence on the African continent is, moreover, one of Mr. Prigojine’s greatest victories. To the point that the flag of his group is today a symbol of protest in French-speaking Africa. The men of Prigojine knew how to take advantage of the errors of French diplomacy, the rejection of French foreign policy and more broadly of social frustration in the former colonies. Under the orders of the “Kremlin cook”, they only had to blow on the embers and encourage a few influencers to reap the benefits opportunistically in order to offer Russia geopolitical victories at a lower cost.
However, in terms of security, the results are mixed to say the least for the actions of Prigojine. As in Libya where his men are fighting in favor of Marshal Haftar. In Sudan, where they support General Hemedti. Or in Mozambique, where his operation only lasted a few weeks after many casualties. Finally, it is only in the Central African Republic that the man can claim to have repelled the rebels who threatened the capital and to have reconquered the main agglomerations of the country. As in Mali where the number of civilian victims increases without a real decline of the jihadists being perceptible, on the contrary.