“Putin’s Chef”: The Man Behind Russia’s Shadow Army

Evgeny Prigozhin, the terrifying and inscrutable muscle behind Russia’s most notorious mercenary group, has been the hidden hand behind some of the worst carnage in Ukraine—and an increasingly vocal threat to Putin, himself.

Concord catering company owner Yevgeny Prigozhin. hoto: Mikhail Svetlov/Getty Images

Julia Ioffe

December 14, 2022

For nearly a decade, Evgeny Prigozhin would only admit to being a very successful caterer. He sued anyone who suggested that he was the man behind Wagner, a private military company whose mercenaries were popping up all over the world—in Syria, Libya, Ukraine. And because he was suing in Russian courts and not just a caterer but a longtime ally of Vladimir Putin, universally dubbed as “Putin’s chef,” he pretty much always won.