The Nine Lives of Yevgeny Prigozhin

AsYevgeny Prigozhin was seizing Rostov-on-Don and marching on Moscow, during his <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/26/podcasts/the-daily/russia-coup-putin.html" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">36-hour insurrection</a>, the Russian Interior Ministry was raiding his palatial home, discovering the wealth and paraphernalia of the world’s most famous mercenary. Footage of the raid brought to mind the arrest of a major cocaine trafficker, as masked Russian special operations police tore through Prigozhin’s sumptuous St. Petersburg villa. The officers were armed with black submachine guns and, presumably, loyalty to Vladimir Putin, as the Russian dictator faced down the single greatest threat to his rule in over two decades in power. However, Russian police inexplicably failed to detain the rebel himself. Instead, Prigozhin was offered amnesty in a deal negotiated by Belarusian autocrat Alexander Lukashenko, in which he withdrew himself and his Wagner forces to neighboring Belarus in exchange for immunity from arrest and prosecution. After that, Prigozhin disappeared from sight for about a week, until today, when he resurfaced in Russia, of all places. Evidently, Prigozhin’s brief Belarusian exile is over, something <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/live/2023/07/06/world/russia-ukraine-news" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">confirmed</a> by President Lukashenko at a news conference today. Lukashenko insisted that <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/lukashenko-putin-prigozhin-wagner-russia-wont-have-killed-2023-7" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">Prigozhin was safe</a>, and that Putin wasn’t going to kill him. “What will happen to Prigozhin next?” he asked. “Well, everything happens in life. But if you think that Putin is so malicious and vindictive that he will ‘kill’ Prigozhin tomorrow, no, this will not happen.” <a href="https://alexziperovich.com/the-nine-lives-of-yevgeny-prigozhin-96a344272527">Visit Now</a>