What Is Wagner? Inside Prigozhin’s Secret War Company

Since the beginning of Russia’s war in Ukraine, Yevgeny Prigozhin’s Wagner paramilitary group has emerged from the shadows to become a potent political and cultural force in Russia—and one with the potential to derail the Kremlin’s long-term plans.

Prigozhin initially built a fighting unit of well-armed men to defend his business interests, which chiefly revolved around securing catering contracts for the Russian military. A former convict from the same rough St. Petersburg neighborhoods as Russian President Vladimir Putin, he had first made his name working as a restaurateur and putting on banquets for the Russian leader, who grew to see him as a useful ally.

Later, his private militia turned into Wagner, Prigozhin began to play a significant role in furthering the Kremlin’s attempts to build its influence overseas, especially in the Middle East and parts of Africa—and offering Putin some plausible deniability about being involved in any of these regions’ conflict zones.

Read more: The Wall Street Journal