(Moscow) “A hard blow.” One year to the day after his death, Russians of all ages, in civilian clothes or in uniform, celebrated on Friday the memory of Yevgeny Prigozhin, the leader of the Wagner paramilitary group, who dared to stand up to Vladimir Putin.
The makeshift monument stands on a Moscow sidewalk, just a few hundred meters from the Kremlin.
Flowers, often red and white roses, are piled up at the foot of a wall of black and white and color photos of Wagner’s men who fell in combat.
Above, flags form a multi-coloured quilt: the Russian standard of course, but also death’s heads – one of Wagner’s acronyms – a Christ-like face or even a red flag struck with a hammer and sickle.
PHOTO OLGA MALTSEVA, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
A man places flowers at the grave of Yevgeny Prigozhin on August 23 in St. Petersburg.
A former common law prisoner turned businessman close to the Kremlin, Yevgeny Prigozhin died on August 23, 2023 in a plane crash under unclear circumstances.
“A hard blow”
Two months earlier, Wagner’s fighters had rebelled against the government and marched on the Russian capital.
Accused of “treason” by Vladimir Putin, their leader finally turned around and ordered them to “return” to their camps.
Today he remains revered by many Russians who see him as a patriot.
His death? “For me, it’s a hard blow,” says a man with a hidden face who wishes to remain anonymous.
“He tried to tell it like it is,” he added, calling the mutiny a “mistake” but praising the Wagner founder for daring to speak truth to power.
PHOTO ALEXANDER NEMENOV, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
People look at a makeshift memorial to fallen members of the Wagner group in central Moscow on August 23, a year after the death of their leader Yevgeny Prigozhin.
Known for his blunt and florid speeches, Yevgeny Prigozhin recruited tens of thousands of men, many of them prisoners, to fight some of the bloodiest battles of the Russian offensive in Ukraine.
Thousands of fighters from his group were killed in 2023 during the battle for Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine, an assault that he himself described as a “meat grinder” and which resulted in the complete destruction of the city.
“For me, it’s courage, charisma, heroism,” enthuses Alexei Bogomolov, a 23-year-old student paying his respects at the memorial.
“And as for Yevgeny Prigozhin, to be honest, I believe with all my heart that he is still alive,” he adds.
A brotherhood
After meeting Vladimir Putin in the 1990s, Yevgeny Prigozhin ran catering companies serving the Kremlin.
Dubbed “Putin’s chef,” his influence grew quickly. So did his bank account, swollen by the millions of dollars in government contracts his companies won.
He is said to have founded the Wagner Group in 2014, together with former army officer Dmitry Utkin, to support Russian paramilitaries in eastern Ukraine.
The two men were killed when their plane crashed between Moscow and St. Petersburg.
Wagner’s soldier who also came to pay his respects, Ivan Glushkov confided that the date of Yevgeny Prigozhin’s death is marked with a white stone in the calendar of his military unit.
“Wagner is a brotherhood with a capital B,” says the 41-year-old. “I have no other words. As united as brothers in a family.”
After the plane crash, in which the Kremlin categorically denied any involvement, the Russian president gave an ambiguous eulogy to the deceased, calling him a “talented businessman” who had made “serious mistakes.”
While Wagner’s rebellion was the biggest challenge to Vladimir Putin in his nearly quarter-century in power, many of his compatriots still regard Yevgeny Prigozhin and his fighters as heroes.
“They were here so that we could live in peace here,” exclaims Svetlana, 39, a volunteer at the memorial. “The meaning of their lives was to serve the homeland.”