The Rise and Fall of Prigozhin, Explained

Описание: From hot-dog seller to Putin’s private warlord — this is the rise and fall of Yevgeny Prigozhin, the man who came closer than anyone to toppling Vladimir Putin.

In this episode of The Rest Is Classified, former CIA analyst David McCloskey and BBC correspondent Gordon Corera uncover how a small-time criminal built the Wagner Group, meddled in the 2016 US election, and turned mercenaries into a global empire — before dying in a fiery plane crash.

What does Prigozhin’s story reveal about the Kremlin’s dark networks, Russia’s shadow wars in Africa and Syria, and the power struggles shaping the war in Ukraine?

00:00 The man who almost overthrew Putin
06:00 From prison to hot-dog empire
10:00 Putin’s favourite restaurateur
17:00 Birth of the Wagner Group
23:00 The warlord’s African gold rush
30:00 The mutiny that shook the Kremlin
44:00 The crash — and the message it sent

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