Surprising everyone in the two warring nations and elsewhere around, the chief of the Russian mercenary group Wagner revealed his political ambitions and declared his intentions to run for Ukraine's President in 2024. In a video going viral on social media, Yevgeny Prigozhin announced his "political ambitions" for next year and said that he has "decided to run for president in 2024."

In the video, Prigozhin, who is dressed in combat gear, can be seen addressing the camera from an unknown location. Gunfire can be heard in the background, as he says, "I'm making a political coming out. Looking at everything around me, I've got political ambitions. I decided to run for president in 2024. For President of Ukraine."

Watch |&nbsp;Wagner Chief: Our men running short of ammunition | Battle of Bakhmut

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He goes on to add if he defeated incumbent Volodymyr Zelensky and his predecessor, Petro Poroshenko, "everything will be fine."

"If I win the presidential elections of Ukraine, then everything will be fine, guys, the shells will not be needed."&nbsp;

Watch the video here:

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⚡️In 2024 I will run for the presidency of Ukraine — head of Wagner PMC Yevgeny Prigozhin <a href="https://t.co/C0Ni5FMKVx">pic.twitter.com/C0Ni5FMKVx</a>
— War Monitor (@WarMonitors) <a href="https://twitter.com/WarMonitors/status/1634530100640206848?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 11, 2023</a></blockquote>
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Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/ordinary-bureaucracy-or-a-betrayal-wagner-chief-says-without-fresh-ammunition-bakhmut-could-collapse-569053">'Ordinary bureaucracy or a betrayal?': Wagner chief says without promised ammunition, Bakhmut could collapse</a>

As per reports, this could be a dig at Moscow's failure to supply the mercenary group with ammunition. The Wagner chief has in recent days repeatedly brought up the ammunition issue.

The Wagner chief has for some time been at odds with the Russian military chiefs, including Defence Minister Sergey Shoygu and head of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov. He has questioned their competence and has voiced his suspicions of the ministry's "jealousy" for the success of his mercenary troops.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/ukraine-war-russian-strike-in-kherson-kills-three-battle-for-bakhmut-rages-on-570951">Ukraine war: Russian strike in Kherson kills three; battle for Bakhmut rages on</a> 
 
Recently, Prigozhin accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of cutting him off completely and said that he has been unable to get through to anyone at the Kremlin. 
 
Prigozhin said on his Telegram channel, “To get me to stop asking for ammunition, all the hotlines to offices, to departments etc have been cut off from me. But the real humdinger is that they’ve also blocked agencies from making decisions [related to Wagner].”

Just last week, he had warned that unless his troops are fortified with ammunition, Moscow's position in the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut is in peril. Reportedly, Moscow has failed to keep its promise to deliver ammunition to Wagner. In February, Prigozhin as per Reuters even termed the withholding of munition supplies as "treason".

(With inputs from agencies) 
 
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Surprising everyone in the two warring nations and elsewhere around, the chief of the Russian mercenary group Wagner revealed his political ambitions and declared his intentions to run for Ukraine's President in 2024.

Surprising everyone in the two warring nations and elsewhere around, the chief of the Russian mercenary group Wagner revealed his political ambitions and declared his intentions to run for Ukraine's President in 2024. In a video going viral on social media, Yevgeny Prigozhin announced his "political ambitions" for next year and said that he has "decided to run for president in 2024." In the video, Prigozhin, who is dressed in combat gear, can be seen addressing the camera from an unknown location. Gunfire can be heard in the background, as he says, "I'm making a political coming out. Looking at everything around me, I've got political ambitions. I decided to run for president in 2024. For President of Ukraine." Watch | Wagner Chief: Our men running short of ammunition | Battle of Bakhmut He goes on to add if he defeated incumbent Volodymyr Zelensky and his predecessor, Petro Poroshenko, "everything will be fine." "If I win the presidential elections of Ukraine, then everything will be fine, guys, the shells will not be needed." Watch the video here: ⚡️In 2024 I will run for the presidency of Ukraine — head of Wagner PMC Yevgeny Prigozhin pic.twitter.com/C0Ni5FMKVx — War Monitor (@WarMonitors) March 11, 2023 × Also read | 'Ordinary bureaucracy or a betrayal?': Wagner chief says without promised ammunition, Bakhmut could collapse As per reports, this could be a dig at Moscow's failure to supply the mercenary group with ammunition. The Wagner chief has in recent days repeatedly brought up the ammunition issue. The Wagner chief has for some time been at odds with the Russian military chiefs, including Defence Minister Sergey Shoygu and head of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov. He has questioned their competence and has voiced his suspicions of the ministry's "jealousy" for the success of his mercenary troops. Also read | Ukraine war: Russian strike in Kherson kills three; battle for Bakhmut rages on Recently, Prigozhin accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of cutting him off completely and said that he has been unable to get through to anyone at the Kremlin. Prigozhin said on his Telegram channel, “To get me to stop asking for ammunition, all the hotlines to offices, to departments etc have been cut off from me. But the real humdinger is that they’ve also blocked agencies from making decisions [related to Wagner].” Just last week, he had warned that unless his troops are fortified with ammunition, Moscow's position in the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut is in peril. Reportedly, Moscow has failed to keep its promise to deliver ammunition to Wagner. In February, Prigozhin as per Reuters even termed the withholding of munition supplies as "treason". (With inputs from agencies) WATCH WION LIVE HERE You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.

Russian mercenary group Wagner’s chief reveals ‘political ambitions’, to run for Ukraine’s president in 2024

Disclaimer: A number of claims and counterclaims are being made on the Ukraine-Russia conflict on the ground and online. While WION takes utmost care to accurately report this developing news story, we cannot independently verify the authenticity of all statements, photos and videos.&nbsp;

Yevgeny Prigozhin, who is the head of Russia's mercenary group Wagner, claimed on Monday (February 6) that he was on a fighter jet that had bombed Bakhmut, which has become the epicentre of fighting in eastern Ukraine.&nbsp;

Prigozhin posted an undated video of himself in the cockpit of a military aircraft and challenged Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to an aerial duel.&nbsp;

ALSO READ |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/russia-reportedly-discussed-crucial-nuclear-arms-treaty-with-us-ambassador-559395">Russia reportedly discussed crucial nuclear arms treaty with US ambassador</a>&nbsp;

News agencies reported that the Wagner boss appeared inside a plane flying in darkness. He was seen wearing a helmet and a pilot mask in a video on social media. The businessman, who is a close Kremlin ally, said: "We are landing, we bombed Bakhmut."&nbsp;

The video was posted by Prigozhin's press service. The clip claimed that it was filmed aboard a Su-24 bomber plane operated by Wagner.&nbsp;

Disclaimer: WION cannot independently verify the authenticity of photos and videos shared on social media.

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Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin has just released this video on Telegram - reportedly of him flying a sortie as a navigator in a Su-24 bomber <a href="https://t.co/p87opjmV6j">pic.twitter.com/p87opjmV6j</a>
— Francis Scarr (@francis_scarr) <a href="https://twitter.com/francis_scarr/status/1622580237014892546?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 6, 2023</a></blockquote>
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Prigozhin said: "If you have the will, we will meet in the skies. If you win, you will take Artemovsk (the Russian name for Bakhmut), if not, we will go until the Dnipro (River)."&nbsp;

The fighting has been intensifying in the Bakhmut region with Zelensky saying that the Ukrainian forces are "reacting" to Russia encircling Bakhmut.&nbsp;

Meanwhile, on Monday, a resolution was adopted by the Ukrainian parliament to Wagner as a terrorist organisation. "We are preparing to destroy Wagner as a component of international terrorism," Andriy Yermak, who is the head of the Ukrainian presidential administration, said, adding that the recognition was a "step towards bringing them (Wagner) to justice."&nbsp;

(With inputs from agencies)&nbsp;

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Disclaimer: A number of claims and counterclaims are being made on the Ukraine-Russia conflict on the ground and online. While WION takes utmost care to accurately report this developing news story, we cannot independently verify the authenticity of all statements, photos and videos.

Disclaimer: A number of claims and counterclaims are being made on the Ukraine-Russia conflict on the ground and online. While WION takes utmost care to accurately report this developing news story, we cannot independently verify the authenticity of all statements, photos and videos. Yevgeny Prigozhin, who is the head of Russia's mercenary group Wagner, claimed on Monday (February 6) that he was on a fighter jet that had bombed Bakhmut, which has become the epicentre of fighting in eastern Ukraine. Prigozhin posted an undated video of himself in the cockpit of a military aircraft and challenged Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to an aerial duel. ALSO READ | Russia reportedly discussed crucial nuclear arms treaty with US ambassador News agencies reported that the Wagner boss appeared inside a plane flying in darkness. He was seen wearing a helmet and a pilot mask in a video on social media. The businessman, who is a close Kremlin ally, said: "We are landing, we bombed Bakhmut." The video was posted by Prigozhin's press service. The clip claimed that it was filmed aboard a Su-24 bomber plane operated by Wagner. Disclaimer: WION cannot independently verify the authenticity of photos and videos shared on social media. Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin has just released this video on Telegram - reportedly of him flying a sortie as a navigator in a Su-24 bomber pic.twitter.com/p87opjmV6j — Francis Scarr (@francis_scarr) February 6, 2023 × WATCH | Gravitas: Ukraine defence minister sacked: All about the corruption scandal × Prigozhin said: "If you have the will, we will meet in the skies. If you win, you will take Artemovsk (the Russian name for Bakhmut), if not, we will go until the Dnipro (River)." The fighting has been intensifying in the Bakhmut region with Zelensky saying that the Ukrainian forces are "reacting" to Russia encircling Bakhmut. Meanwhile, on Monday, a resolution was adopted by the Ukrainian parliament to Wagner as a terrorist organisation. "We are preparing to destroy Wagner as a component of international terrorism," Andriy Yermak, who is the head of the Ukrainian presidential administration, said, adding that the recognition was a "step towards bringing them (Wagner) to justice." (With inputs from agencies) WATCH WION LIVE HERE You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.

Wagner boss shares cockpit video, challenges Ukraine's Zelensky to aerial duel

Late last summer, a plot of land on the edge of a small farming community in southern Russia began to fill with scores of newly dug graves of fighters killed in Ukraine. The resting places were adorned with simple wooden crosses and brightly coloured wreaths that bore the insignia of Russia's Wagner Group - a feared and secretive private&nbsp;army.

There were around 200 graves at the site on the outskirts of Bakinskaya village in Krasnodar region when Reuters visited in late January. The news agency matched the names of at least 39 of the dead here and at three other nearby cemeteries to&nbsp;Russian&nbsp;court records, publicly available databases and social media accounts. Reuters also spoke to family, friends and lawyers of some of the dead.

Many of the men buried at Bakinskaya were convicts who were recruited by Wagner last year after its founder, Yevgeny Prigozhin, promised a pardon if&nbsp;prisoners survived six months at the front, this reporting showed. They included a contract killer, murderers, career criminals and people with alcohol problems.

Also Read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/us-claims-chinese-firm-helped-russias-wagner-group-in-ukraine-places-sanctions-556469">US claims Chinese firm helped Russia's Wagner group in Ukraine, places sanctions</a>

For months, Wagner has been locked in a bloody battle of attrition to take the towns of Bakhmut and Soledar in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region. Western and Ukrainian officials have said Wagner is using convicts as cannon fodder to overwhelm Ukraine's defences. Toughening sanctions on Wagner this month, White House national security spokesman John Kirby branded the group "a criminal organisation that is committing widespread atrocities and human rights abuses." In a short open reply to the U.S. government, Prigozhin asked Kirby to "please clarify what crime was committed" by Wagner.

Videos and photographs of the graves first appeared on social media channels in the Krasnodar region in December. Reuters geolocated these images to the Bakinskaya cemetery and reviewed satellite imagery of the site from Maxar Technologies and Capella Space. Satellite pictures show that the Wagner plot was empty in the summer, had three rows of graves by the end of November and was three-quarters full by early January. Virtually the entire plot was used by Jan. 24.

Local activist Vitaly Votanovsky, who took the first pictures and has documented soldiers killed in Ukraine and buried in Krasnodar region&nbsp;graveyards, told Reuters he observed a truck delivering bodies to the cemetery. He said gravediggers told him the bodies had come from the&nbsp;Russian&nbsp;city of Rostov-on-Don, close to Russia's border with Donetsk region. When Reuters visited the cemetery in January, fences and security cameras were being installed around the plot and another burial was underway.

Russian&nbsp;state-owned news agency RIA Novosti published footage in early January of Prigozhin visiting the cemetery, crossing himself and laying flowers on one grave. He told local media that the men buried there had expressed a wish to be laid to rest at a Wagner chapel outside the nearby town of Goryachiy Klyuch, rather than having their bodies returned to relatives. The Bakinskaya plot was provided by the local authorities, he said, after the chapel ran out of space. In 2019, Reuters reported on the existence of a Wagner training camp in the village of Molkino, around 5 miles (9 km) from Bakinskaya.

Of the 39 convicts Reuters identified, 10 had been imprisoned for murder or manslaughter, 24 for robbery and two for grievous bodily harm. Other crimes included manufacturing or dealing in drugs and blackmail. Among the convicts were citizens of Ukraine, Moldova, and the&nbsp;Russian-backed breakaway Georgian region of Abkhazia. Wooden markers on their graves at Bakinskaya and three nearby cemeteries show the men perished between July and December 2022, at the height of the battle for Bakhmut.

One of the youngest, buried at the nearby Martanskaya cemetery, is Vadim Pushnya. He was just 25 years old when he died on Nov. 19. Pushnya was imprisoned in 2020 for burgling garages, a beer shop and a cement factory in his hometown of Goryachiy Klyuch, close to the Wagner chapel. The birthdate on Pushnya's grave matches the date given on his social media accounts and in court records.

The oldest, Fail Nabiev, was serving one-and-a-half years for burglary in Ivanovo region's Penal Colony No. 2, 200 miles northeast of Moscow, at least his second such prison spell. He had been convicted in May 2022 by a court in the picturesque tourist town of Suzdal of stealing a string trimmer and a sanding machine valued at a total of 5,500 roubles ($80) from a garage. According to his simple wooden grave marker, emblazoned with an Islamic crescent moon, Nabiev died in October, less than five months after being sentenced. He was 60.

Nabiev's common-law wife, Olga Viktorova, confirmed to Reuters that Nabiev had been killed while serving with Wagner in the military campaign in Ukraine. She said that her husband had been nearing the end of his prison term, and that he had substantial credit card debts that she was now left to pay. She said she did not know that her husband had joined Wagner until after his death.&nbsp;Russian&nbsp;independent news site iStories has reported that Prigozhin visited Penal Colony No. 2 to recruit fighters in August. Reuters couldn't independently verify the report.

"He always had crazy ideas. An incorrigible optimist," Viktorova said. Nabiev probably "thought that he'd take a quick trip to Ukraine and earn some money."

The Kremlin, Russia's Defence Ministry and&nbsp;Russian&nbsp;prison authorities did not reply to questions for this article. The&nbsp;Russian&nbsp;government has in the past praised the "courageous and selfless actions" of Wagner fighters. Wagner's founder Prigozhin, who also didn't comment, has said previously he is giving convicts "a second chance at life."

Though Reuters was unable to confirm where exactly the men died, the mother of one said that her son was killed in the Donetsk region. The social media accounts of several others also indicate that they were in Ukraine prior to their deaths.

Since the beginning of Russia's war in Ukraine, the previously secretive Wagner and founder Prigozhin have assumed an increasingly public profile. In the past, Wagner fighters have deployed to Syria, Libya and the Central African Republic in support of Russia's allies. Prigozhin, known in Russia as "Putin's chef" because of his Kremlin catering contracts, consistently denied any links to Wagner. Then, last September, he confirmed he founded the private&nbsp;army, which he described as a "group of patriots."

Since then, Prigozhin has repeatedly visited the frontlines in eastern Ukraine, while also criticising Russia's military leadership and some senior officials, and personally spearheading a drive to recruit fighters from Russia's sprawling penal system.

According to a regular report published by the&nbsp;Russian&nbsp;Federal Penitentiary Service, Russia's penal colony population decreased by about 8% from 353,210 in August to 324,906 in early November, the largest drop in more than a decade. The report gave no reasons for the sudden, sharp decline, which coincided with the beginning of Wagner's prison recruitment push. The Federal Penitentiary Service did not reply to detailed questions for this article.

Last month, Reuters reported that the U.S. intelligence community believes that Wagner had approximately 40,000&nbsp;prisoner&nbsp;recruits deployed in Ukraine as of December, accounting for the vast majority of Wagner personnel in the country. Wagner has not commented on the figure or provided any information on fighter numbers. In a Jan. 14 video message, Prigozhin described Wagner as a fully independent force with its own aircraft, tanks, rockets and artillery. It is "probably the most experienced&nbsp;army&nbsp;that exists in the world today," he said.

Some of the convicts identified by Reuters were violent offenders who had spent much of their adult life in prison or were facing long sentences. Court papers reviewed by Reuters also portray men who had struggled with alcohol problems. The names of some others are on banking blacklists, suggesting personal financial troubles.

Their lives bring into bleak focus the realities of Russia's criminal underclass. Wagner founder Prigozhin in December told&nbsp;Russian&nbsp;news site RBC that he is giving convicts an opportunity "to redeem themselves." In January, he appeared alongside the first group of fighters to be pardoned, having survived their stints in Ukraine. A few weeks later, he wrote an open letter to the speaker of Russia's parliament, Vyacheslav Volodin, asking him to criminalise any actions or publications that discredit Wagner fighters and to outlaw public disclosure of their criminal pasts. He wrote that those "who are risking their lives every day and dying for the Motherland are being portrayed as second-class people, stripping them of the right to atone for their guilt." Volodin did not reply to Reuters' request for comment.

Among the&nbsp;prisoners identified by Reuters was 43-year-old Anatoly Bodenkov. He was serving a 16-year sentence after his conviction as a contract killer, court papers show. According to a local news report on the case, in 2016 Bodenkov murdered a local real estate agent in the northern city of Kirovo-Chepetsk with a sawn-off shotgun for 400,000 roubles ($5,720). The grave marker says Bodenkov died on Nov. 27, 2022. It doesn't say where.

A second&nbsp;prisoner, Viktor Deshko, 40, was sentenced to 10 years for a murder in 2021, according to court documents and local media reports. He cut a woman's throat during a drunken argument over money in the forests near the mining town of Shakhty, close to the border with the&nbsp;Russian-controlled Donbas. Court documents describe Deshko as "an aggressive person, given to abusing alcohol." He was on probation at the time of the killing, having previously served three and a half years for assault with a deadly weapon.

For Bodenkov and Deshko, the full names and dates of birth on the grave markers matched their social media and court records. Reuters was not able to contact friends or family of the two men, and their lawyers did not reply to requests for comment.

A third man, Vyacheslav Kochas, was sentenced to 18 years in prison by a St. Petersburg court for murder and armed robbery in 2020, when he was 23. According to&nbsp;Russian&nbsp;court documents, Kochas and another man burst into the apartment of an acquaintance while drunk in an attempted robbery. He beat the acquaintance and a female victim unconscious, using an iron and a metal clothes horse. Kochas then set fire to an item of clothing and threw it at the unconscious man. Much of the apartment was gutted by the fire, and the man succumbed to his wounds two days later.

Photographs of Kochas on social media show a baby-faced man. In some, he is embracing an unidentified young woman. Kochas' profile on VKontakte, Russia's Facebook equivalent, now reads: "Killed in the Donbas." Kochas' grave marker at Bakinskaya gives his date of death as July 21, shortly after his 25th birthday and in the earliest days of Russia's push towards Bakhmut.

Kochas' lawyer, Stepan Akimov, described his former client as "a really ordinary guy" whom he said had been unfairly convicted. The last he heard from Kochas was a text message after his appeal failed, thanking Akimov for his help. Akimov learned from Reuters that his ex-client had joined Wagner.

"I can imagine, given the length of his sentence, and how young he was, it seemed to him a way to go free," said Akimov. "When a&nbsp;prisoner&nbsp;has a double-digit sentence, here they're offering release in six months. Apparently, Vyacheslav thought this offer was a way out."

Reuters was unable to reach Kochas' surviving relatives.

Russia has one of the world's largest prison populations per capita. Mark Galeotti, author of The Vory: Russia's super mafia, a book on Russia's criminal and prison cultures, says the potential appeal of Wagner to inmates is wider than just a bid for clemency. Service with Wagner, he said, offers pride and a sense of purpose to convicts with few prospects after release, people who have spent time in a prison culture suffused with "a very strong&nbsp;Russian&nbsp;nationalist tinge."

"Yes, this will give you the chance to get out of prison, but also it gives you the chance to actually be someone," said Galeotti. "This is a way in which actually Wagner can appeal to people who definitely are, or believe themselves to be, marginalised, outsiders, losers in some way in the system, and gives them the chance to think of themselves as becoming winners."

At least one of the men buried at Bakinskaya concealed their criminal record and prison time from loved ones.

For over half a decade after she got married and left her hometown of Luhansk in eastern Ukraine, Svitlana Holyk believed that her brother Yury Danilyuk was working somewhere in the far north of Russia. The two Ukrainian-born siblings had few living relatives and rarely spoke after&nbsp;Russian-backed proxies seized their home city in 2014, she said. Svitlana knew only that her brother travelled regularly for work to the&nbsp;Russian&nbsp;border city of Bryansk, 500 miles (800 km) away.

But while Svitlana was building a new life in the Ukrainian city of Dnipro, Yury was using social media to subscribe to pro-Russian&nbsp;groups supporting the Donbas separatist insurgency, his online activity shows. In 2016, having been out of touch for a year and a half, Yury told his sister that he had moved to Russia's Arctic north. She said his messages were short, and he said little about his life.

"I suspected then that something had happened, that he might have some troubles that he did not want to or could not talk about for some reason," she told Reuters, speaking Ukrainian, in a telephone call from Dnipro. The city is now a major logistics hub for the Ukrainian&nbsp;army&nbsp;fighting in the Donbas, and a constant target of&nbsp;Russian&nbsp;missiles.

A close friend of Yury Danilyuk spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity. The friend said that Yury lied to his sister, whom he deeply loved, to avoid upsetting her with news of his imprisonment. In reality, he had been sentenced in 2016 to nine years and eight months in prison on drugs charges. The two men were incarcerated together in Krasnodar region's Penal Colony No. 6.

The friend said he last spoke to Yury in September 2022 and heard later that month from other inmates that Yury had joined Wagner. Olga Romanova, a&nbsp;prisoners-rights activist with the Russia Behind Bars watchdog group, told Reuters that Yevgeny Prigozhin has visited Penal Colony No. 6 to recruit inmates on two separate occasions. Reuters couldn't independently verify these visits.

The friend said that during his time in jail, Yury fell in with a faction of&nbsp;prisoners who refuse to cooperate with prison authorities on principle – a common phenomenon in Russia's penitentiary system. That meant Yury forfeited the chance of early release for good behaviour. He said Yury's decision to join Wagner was motivated by the knowledge that he would likely otherwise serve his long sentence in full.

According to his grave, Yury Danilyuk died on Nov. 30, 2022. He was 28.

Danilyuk's sister, Svitlana, said she had known nothing of her brother's prison sentence, service with Wagner, and eventual death during Russia's war against the country of their birth until contacted by Reuters journalists. Holyk said: "The fact that Yury died I learned from you. I re-read your message several times when you wrote to me. Somehow I couldn't believe it."

The inmate friend recalled Yury as a fierce patriot of his native Donbas, with a passion for cars. "I blame it all on him not wanting to cooperate with the prison authorities," the friend said. "If he had agreed, he'd be alive. But he refused, so he's a fool."

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Late last summer, a plot of land on the edge of a small farming community in southern Russia began to fill with scores of newly dug graves of fighters killed in Ukraine.

Late last summer, a plot of land on the edge of a small farming community in southern Russia began to fill with scores of newly dug graves of fighters killed in Ukraine. The resting places were adorned with simple wooden crosses and brightly coloured wreaths that bore the insignia of Russia's Wagner Group - a feared and secretive private army. There were around 200 graves at the site on the outskirts of Bakinskaya village in Krasnodar region when Reuters visited in late January. The news agency matched the names of at least 39 of the dead here and at three other nearby cemeteries to Russian court records, publicly available databases and social media accounts. Reuters also spoke to family, friends and lawyers of some of the dead. Many of the men buried at Bakinskaya were convicts who were recruited by Wagner last year after its founder, Yevgeny Prigozhin, promised a pardon if prisoners survived six months at the front, this reporting showed. They included a contract killer, murderers, career criminals and people with alcohol problems. Also Read | US claims Chinese firm helped Russia's Wagner group in Ukraine, places sanctions For months, Wagner has been locked in a bloody battle of attrition to take the towns of Bakhmut and Soledar in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region. Western and Ukrainian officials have said Wagner is using convicts as cannon fodder to overwhelm Ukraine's defences. Toughening sanctions on Wagner this month, White House national security spokesman John Kirby branded the group "a criminal organisation that is committing widespread atrocities and human rights abuses." In a short open reply to the U.S. government, Prigozhin asked Kirby to "please clarify what crime was committed" by Wagner. Videos and photographs of the graves first appeared on social media channels in the Krasnodar region in December. Reuters geolocated these images to the Bakinskaya cemetery and reviewed satellite imagery of the site from Maxar Technologies and Capella Space. Satellite pictures show that the Wagner plot was empty in the summer, had three rows of graves by the end of November and was three-quarters full by early January. Virtually the entire plot was used by Jan. 24. Local activist Vitaly Votanovsky, who took the first pictures and has documented soldiers killed in Ukraine and buried in Krasnodar region graveyards, told Reuters he observed a truck delivering bodies to the cemetery. He said gravediggers told him the bodies had come from the Russian city of Rostov-on-Don, close to Russia's border with Donetsk region. When Reuters visited the cemetery in January, fences and security cameras were being installed around the plot and another burial was underway. Russian state-owned news agency RIA Novosti published footage in early January of Prigozhin visiting the cemetery, crossing himself and laying flowers on one grave. He told local media that the men buried there had expressed a wish to be laid to rest at a Wagner chapel outside the nearby town of Goryachiy Klyuch, rather than having their bodies returned to relatives. The Bakinskaya plot was provided by the local authorities, he said, after the chapel ran out of space. In 2019, Reuters reported on the existence of a Wagner training camp in the village of Molkino, around 5 miles (9 km) from Bakinskaya. Of the 39 convicts Reuters identified, 10 had been imprisoned for murder or manslaughter, 24 for robbery and two for grievous bodily harm. Other crimes included manufacturing or dealing in drugs and blackmail. Among the convicts were citizens of Ukraine, Moldova, and the Russian-backed breakaway Georgian region of Abkhazia. Wooden markers on their graves at Bakinskaya and three nearby cemeteries show the men perished between July and December 2022, at the height of the battle for Bakhmut. One of the youngest, buried at the nearby Martanskaya cemetery, is Vadim Pushnya. He was just 25 years old when he died on Nov. 19. Pushnya was imprisoned in 2020 for burgling garages, a beer shop and a cement factory in his hometown of Goryachiy Klyuch, close to the Wagner chapel. The birthdate on Pushnya's grave matches the date given on his social media accounts and in court records. The oldest, Fail Nabiev, was serving one-and-a-half years for burglary in Ivanovo region's Penal Colony No. 2, 200 miles northeast of Moscow, at least his second such prison spell. He had been convicted in May 2022 by a court in the picturesque tourist town of Suzdal of stealing a string trimmer and a sanding machine valued at a total of 5,500 roubles ($80) from a garage. According to his simple wooden grave marker, emblazoned with an Islamic crescent moon, Nabiev died in October, less than five months after being sentenced. He was 60. Nabiev's common-law wife, Olga Viktorova, confirmed to Reuters that Nabiev had been killed while serving with Wagner in the military campaign in Ukraine. She said that her husband had been nearing the end of his prison term, and that he had substantial credit card debts that she was now left to pay. She said she did not know that her husband had joined Wagner until after his death. Russian independent news site iStories has reported that Prigozhin visited Penal Colony No. 2 to recruit fighters in August. Reuters couldn't independently verify the report. "He always had crazy ideas. An incorrigible optimist," Viktorova said. Nabiev probably "thought that he'd take a quick trip to Ukraine and earn some money." The Kremlin, Russia's Defence Ministry and Russian prison authorities did not reply to questions for this article. The Russian government has in the past praised the "courageous and selfless actions" of Wagner fighters. Wagner's founder Prigozhin, who also didn't comment, has said previously he is giving convicts "a second chance at life." Though Reuters was unable to confirm where exactly the men died, the mother of one said that her son was killed in the Donetsk region. The social media accounts of several others also indicate that they were in Ukraine prior to their deaths. Since the beginning of Russia's war in Ukraine, the previously secretive Wagner and founder Prigozhin have assumed an increasingly public profile. In the past, Wagner fighters have deployed to Syria, Libya and the Central African Republic in support of Russia's allies. Prigozhin, known in Russia as "Putin's chef" because of his Kremlin catering contracts, consistently denied any links to Wagner. Then, last September, he confirmed he founded the private army, which he described as a "group of patriots." Since then, Prigozhin has repeatedly visited the frontlines in eastern Ukraine, while also criticising Russia's military leadership and some senior officials, and personally spearheading a drive to recruit fighters from Russia's sprawling penal system. According to a regular report published by the Russian Federal Penitentiary Service, Russia's penal colony population decreased by about 8% from 353,210 in August to 324,906 in early November, the largest drop in more than a decade. The report gave no reasons for the sudden, sharp decline, which coincided with the beginning of Wagner's prison recruitment push. The Federal Penitentiary Service did not reply to detailed questions for this article. Last month, Reuters reported that the U.S. intelligence community believes that Wagner had approximately 40,000 prisoner recruits deployed in Ukraine as of December, accounting for the vast majority of Wagner personnel in the country. Wagner has not commented on the figure or provided any information on fighter numbers. In a Jan. 14 video message, Prigozhin described Wagner as a fully independent force with its own aircraft, tanks, rockets and artillery. It is "probably the most experienced army that exists in the world today," he said. Some of the convicts identified by Reuters were violent offenders who had spent much of their adult life in prison or were facing long sentences. Court papers reviewed by Reuters also portray men who had struggled with alcohol problems. The names of some others are on banking blacklists, suggesting personal financial troubles. Their lives bring into bleak focus the realities of Russia's criminal underclass. Wagner founder Prigozhin in December told Russian news site RBC that he is giving convicts an opportunity "to redeem themselves." In January, he appeared alongside the first group of fighters to be pardoned, having survived their stints in Ukraine. A few weeks later, he wrote an open letter to the speaker of Russia's parliament, Vyacheslav Volodin, asking him to criminalise any actions or publications that discredit Wagner fighters and to outlaw public disclosure of their criminal pasts. He wrote that those "who are risking their lives every day and dying for the Motherland are being portrayed as second-class people, stripping them of the right to atone for their guilt." Volodin did not reply to Reuters' request for comment. Among the prisoners identified by Reuters was 43-year-old Anatoly Bodenkov. He was serving a 16-year sentence after his conviction as a contract killer, court papers show. According to a local news report on the case, in 2016 Bodenkov murdered a local real estate agent in the northern city of Kirovo-Chepetsk with a sawn-off shotgun for 400,000 roubles ($5,720). The grave marker says Bodenkov died on Nov. 27, 2022. It doesn't say where. A second prisoner, Viktor Deshko, 40, was sentenced to 10 years for a murder in 2021, according to court documents and local media reports. He cut a woman's throat during a drunken argument over money in the forests near the mining town of Shakhty, close to the border with the Russian-controlled Donbas. Court documents describe Deshko as "an aggressive person, given to abusing alcohol." He was on probation at the time of the killing, having previously served three and a half years for assault with a deadly weapon. For Bodenkov and Deshko, the full names and dates of birth on the grave markers matched their social media and court records. Reuters was not able to contact friends or family of the two men, and their lawyers did not reply to requests for comment. A third man, Vyacheslav Kochas, was sentenced to 18 years in prison by a St. Petersburg court for murder and armed robbery in 2020, when he was 23. According to Russian court documents, Kochas and another man burst into the apartment of an acquaintance while drunk in an attempted robbery. He beat the acquaintance and a female victim unconscious, using an iron and a metal clothes horse. Kochas then set fire to an item of clothing and threw it at the unconscious man. Much of the apartment was gutted by the fire, and the man succumbed to his wounds two days later. Photographs of Kochas on social media show a baby-faced man. In some, he is embracing an unidentified young woman. Kochas' profile on VKontakte, Russia's Facebook equivalent, now reads: "Killed in the Donbas." Kochas' grave marker at Bakinskaya gives his date of death as July 21, shortly after his 25th birthday and in the earliest days of Russia's push towards Bakhmut. Kochas' lawyer, Stepan Akimov, described his former client as "a really ordinary guy" whom he said had been unfairly convicted. The last he heard from Kochas was a text message after his appeal failed, thanking Akimov for his help. Akimov learned from Reuters that his ex-client had joined Wagner. "I can imagine, given the length of his sentence, and how young he was, it seemed to him a way to go free," said Akimov. "When a prisoner has a double-digit sentence, here they're offering release in six months. Apparently, Vyacheslav thought this offer was a way out." Reuters was unable to reach Kochas' surviving relatives. Russia has one of the world's largest prison populations per capita. Mark Galeotti, author of The Vory: Russia's super mafia, a book on Russia's criminal and prison cultures, says the potential appeal of Wagner to inmates is wider than just a bid for clemency. Service with Wagner, he said, offers pride and a sense of purpose to convicts with few prospects after release, people who have spent time in a prison culture suffused with "a very strong Russian nationalist tinge." "Yes, this will give you the chance to get out of prison, but also it gives you the chance to actually be someone," said Galeotti. "This is a way in which actually Wagner can appeal to people who definitely are, or believe themselves to be, marginalised, outsiders, losers in some way in the system, and gives them the chance to think of themselves as becoming winners." At least one of the men buried at Bakinskaya concealed their criminal record and prison time from loved ones. For over half a decade after she got married and left her hometown of Luhansk in eastern Ukraine, Svitlana Holyk believed that her brother Yury Danilyuk was working somewhere in the far north of Russia. The two Ukrainian-born siblings had few living relatives and rarely spoke after Russian-backed proxies seized their home city in 2014, she said. Svitlana knew only that her brother travelled regularly for work to the Russian border city of Bryansk, 500 miles (800 km) away. But while Svitlana was building a new life in the Ukrainian city of Dnipro, Yury was using social media to subscribe to pro-Russian groups supporting the Donbas separatist insurgency, his online activity shows. In 2016, having been out of touch for a year and a half, Yury told his sister that he had moved to Russia's Arctic north. She said his messages were short, and he said little about his life. "I suspected then that something had happened, that he might have some troubles that he did not want to or could not talk about for some reason," she told Reuters, speaking Ukrainian, in a telephone call from Dnipro. The city is now a major logistics hub for the Ukrainian army fighting in the Donbas, and a constant target of Russian missiles. A close friend of Yury Danilyuk spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity. The friend said that Yury lied to his sister, whom he deeply loved, to avoid upsetting her with news of his imprisonment. In reality, he had been sentenced in 2016 to nine years and eight months in prison on drugs charges. The two men were incarcerated together in Krasnodar region's Penal Colony No. 6. The friend said he last spoke to Yury in September 2022 and heard later that month from other inmates that Yury had joined Wagner. Olga Romanova, a prisoners-rights activist with the Russia Behind Bars watchdog group, told Reuters that Yevgeny Prigozhin has visited Penal Colony No. 6 to recruit inmates on two separate occasions. Reuters couldn't independently verify these visits. The friend said that during his time in jail, Yury fell in with a faction of prisoners who refuse to cooperate with prison authorities on principle – a common phenomenon in Russia's penitentiary system. That meant Yury forfeited the chance of early release for good behaviour. He said Yury's decision to join Wagner was motivated by the knowledge that he would likely otherwise serve his long sentence in full. According to his grave, Yury Danilyuk died on Nov. 30, 2022. He was 28. Danilyuk's sister, Svitlana, said she had known nothing of her brother's prison sentence, service with Wagner, and eventual death during Russia's war against the country of their birth until contacted by Reuters journalists. Holyk said: "The fact that Yury died I learned from you. I re-read your message several times when you wrote to me. Somehow I couldn't believe it." The inmate friend recalled Yury as a fierce patriot of his native Donbas, with a passion for cars. "I blame it all on him not wanting to cooperate with the prison authorities," the friend said. "If he had agreed, he'd be alive. But he refused, so he's a fool." WATCH WION LIVE HERE You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.

A rapidly expanding cemetery in Russian village reveals Wagner’s prisoner army

Russian mercenary group Wagner's chief Yevgeny Prigozhin wrote a short letter to the White House on Saturday (January 21) asking what crime his group is accused of after the United States imposed new sanctions on the group and declared&nbsp;it a transnational criminal organisation. Taking to Telegram, Prigozhin's press service addressed a letter to the White House national security spokesperson John Kirby. "Dear Mr Kirby, Could you please clarify what crime was committed by PMC Wagner?" the letter read, a report by news agency Reuters said early Sunday (January 22).&nbsp;

Wagner, which has been supporting Russia in its offensive on Ukraine, has claimed credit for many battlefield advances. The mercenary group has also been involved in conflicts in Africa, Latin America and the Middle East.&nbsp;

ALSO READ | <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/us-designates-mercenary-group-wagner-as-international-criminal-organisation-554630">US designates mercenary group Wagner as 'transnational criminal organisation'</a>

On Friday, the White House announced that it would impose additional sanctions next week against Wagner and its support across multiple continents. "These actions recognise the transcontinental threat that Wagner poses, including through its ongoing pattern of serious criminal activity," John Kirby told reporters as he designated the group as a "transnational criminal organisation".

Kirby said that Wagner has about 50,000 fighters in Ukraine, 80 per cent of them drawn from prisons. The White House national security spokesperson also showed US intelligence photographs of North Korea supplying arms to Wagner for its Ukraine operations,&nbsp;a claim that Pyongyang called groundless and denounced the US for providing lethal weapons to Ukraine. Prigozhin also denied taking delivery of arms from North Korea.&nbsp;

ALSO READ | <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/outrage-in-serbia-over-russias-mercenary-wagner-group-hiring-locals-for-ukrainian-war-554316">Outrage in Serbia over Russian mercenary Wagner Group hiring locals for Ukraine&nbsp;war</a>

Reuters reported early Saturday that designating Wagner as a transnational criminal organisation under US executive order 13581 would freeze any US assets of the group and prohibit Americans from providing funds, goods or services to it (Wagner).

"With these actions and more to come, our message to any company that is considering providing support to Wagner is this: Wagner is a criminal organisation that is committing widespread atrocities and human rights abuses, and we will work relentlessly to identify, disrupt, expose, and target those assisting Wagner," Kirby further said on Friday.&nbsp;

(With inputs from agencies)

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Russian mercenary group Wagner's chief Yevgeny Prigozhin wrote a short letter to the White House on Saturday (January 21) asking what crime his group is accused of after the United States imposed new sanctions on the group and declared it a transnational criminal organisation.

Russian mercenary group Wagner's chief Yevgeny Prigozhin wrote a short letter to the White House on Saturday (January 21) asking what crime his group is accused of after the United States imposed new sanctions on the group and declared it a transnational criminal organisation. Taking to Telegram, Prigozhin's press service addressed a letter to the White House national security spokesperson John Kirby. "Dear Mr Kirby, Could you please clarify what crime was committed by PMC Wagner?" the letter read, a report by news agency Reuters said early Sunday (January 22). Wagner, which has been supporting Russia in its offensive on Ukraine, has claimed credit for many battlefield advances. The mercenary group has also been involved in conflicts in Africa, Latin America and the Middle East. ALSO READ | US designates mercenary group Wagner as 'transnational criminal organisation' On Friday, the White House announced that it would impose additional sanctions next week against Wagner and its support across multiple continents. "These actions recognise the transcontinental threat that Wagner poses, including through its ongoing pattern of serious criminal activity," John Kirby told reporters as he designated the group as a "transnational criminal organisation". Kirby said that Wagner has about 50,000 fighters in Ukraine, 80 per cent of them drawn from prisons. The White House national security spokesperson also showed US intelligence photographs of North Korea supplying arms to Wagner for its Ukraine operations, a claim that Pyongyang called groundless and denounced the US for providing lethal weapons to Ukraine. Prigozhin also denied taking delivery of arms from North Korea. ALSO READ | Outrage in Serbia over Russian mercenary Wagner Group hiring locals for Ukraine war Reuters reported early Saturday that designating Wagner as a transnational criminal organisation under US executive order 13581 would freeze any US assets of the group and prohibit Americans from providing funds, goods or services to it (Wagner). "With these actions and more to come, our message to any company that is considering providing support to Wagner is this: Wagner is a criminal organisation that is committing widespread atrocities and human rights abuses, and we will work relentlessly to identify, disrupt, expose, and target those assisting Wagner," Kirby further said on Friday. (With inputs from agencies) WATCH WION LIVE HERE You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.

'Dear Mr Kirby...': Wagner boss writes to White House over fresh US sanctions

Putin-linked entrepreneur Yevgeny Prigozhin admitted that he had interfered in US elections and would continue to do so.

Putin-linked businessman admits to US elections 'interference'

Yevgeny Prigozhin, a Russian businessman who is widely regarded as an ally of Vladimir Putin, said on Monday that outside forces interfered in the United States elections. The statement was made in response to a Bloomberg report which accused Prigozhin and others of carrying out various operations including the creation of “troll factories” in order to influence the results of the US elections.&nbsp;

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/ukraine-announces-strategic-requisitions-of-five-companies-for-war-effort-531964" hreflang="en">Ukraine announces 'strategic requisitions' of five companies for war effort</a>

&nbsp;“Gentlemen, we interfered, we are interfering and we will interfere,” Prigozhin said.&nbsp;

“Carefully, precisely, surgically and the way we do it, the way we can,” he added according to Reuters.&nbsp;

In September this year, Prigozhin confirmed that he was the founder of the infamous Wagner mercenary group which was accused of operating in Ukraine. Kyiv said that the mercenary group was helping Russian forces in their operations in Ukraine and were carrying out stealth operations themselves.&nbsp;

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/twitter-boss-elon-musk-asks-us-voters-to-vote-for-republican-congress-531962">Twitter boss Elon Musk asks Americans to vote for 'Republican Congress'</a>

Following the revelation, the businessman has faced sanctions from a number of countries including the United States, Canada, and Germany. The Wagner mercenary group was also considered to be a danger by various western countries and attempts were made to neutralise its involvement in the conflict.&nbsp;

The announcement came just days ahead of the midterm elections in the US which will hold special importance to Joe Biden’s term as President. The Republican Party already controls the senate and a victory in the House will mean more trouble for the current government. The election will take place on November 8 and multiple experts believe that Donald Trump can announce his presidential campaign in the coming days.&nbsp;

<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="350" loading="”lazy”" src="https://www.wionews.com/live-tv/embed?autoplay=1&amp;mute=1" width="100%"></iframe>

Yevgeny Prigozhin, a Russian businessman who is widely regarded as an ally of Vladimir Putin, said on Monday that outside forces interfered in the United States elections.

Yevgeny Prigozhin, a Russian businessman who is widely regarded as an ally of Vladimir Putin, said on Monday that outside forces interfered in the United States elections. The statement was made in response to a Bloomberg report which accused Prigozhin and others of carrying out various operations including the creation of “troll factories” in order to influence the results of the US elections. Also read | Ukraine announces 'strategic requisitions' of five companies for war effort “Gentlemen, we interfered, we are interfering and we will interfere,” Prigozhin said. “Carefully, precisely, surgically and the way we do it, the way we can,” he added according to Reuters. In September this year, Prigozhin confirmed that he was the founder of the infamous Wagner mercenary group which was accused of operating in Ukraine. Kyiv said that the mercenary group was helping Russian forces in their operations in Ukraine and were carrying out stealth operations themselves. Also read | Twitter boss Elon Musk asks Americans to vote for 'Republican Congress' Following the revelation, the businessman has faced sanctions from a number of countries including the United States, Canada, and Germany. The Wagner mercenary group was also considered to be a danger by various western countries and attempts were made to neutralise its involvement in the conflict. The announcement came just days ahead of the midterm elections in the US which will hold special importance to Joe Biden’s term as President. The Republican Party already controls the senate and a victory in the House will mean more trouble for the current government. The election will take place on November 8 and multiple experts believe that Donald Trump can announce his presidential campaign in the coming days.

Vladimir Putin ally Yevgeny Prigozhin 'admits' to interfering in US elections

Kremlin-linked businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin has urged the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to remove his name from the list of wanted criminals, alleging it to be a human rights principles violation.

Usually called "Putin's chef", Prigozhin's company catered for the Kremlin. He is wanted by the FBI "for his alleged involvement in a conspiracy to defraud the United States".&nbsp;

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/wion-global-summit-live-if-we-dont-change-our-ways-crises-wont-end-says-ian-goldin-372686" hreflang="en">Global Summit LIVE: If we don't change our ways, crises won't end — Ian Goldin</a>

Prigozhin was indicted by the US three years ago for allegedly meddling in the 2016 US presidential elections.

He has now written to the FBI calling it to be a violation of human rights under international law. "The FBI must immediately cease offering a monetary award to the public for my capture and delivery to the United States as this violates several principles of human rights under international law," he wrote.

His company, Concord, has taken to a social media platform, Vkontakte, on Wednesday, and reported that the company has written to the FBI chief Christopher Wray on March 23 regarding this matter.

Also read |&nbsp;<a data-ctorig="https://www.wionews.com/world/putin-gets-covid-vaccine-kremlin-refuses-to-share-details-372644" data-cturl="https://www.google.com/url?client=internal-element-cse&amp;cx=006054055338965708568:09spwrlibei&amp;q=https://www.wionews.com/world/putin-gets-covid-vaccine-kremlin-refuses-to-share-details-372644&amp;sa=U&amp;ved=2ahUKEwig06DM38jvAhXtwzgGHcyXDqsQFjACegQICBAC&amp;usg=AOvVaw3og41GqXqOQxyiOKnfXZcf" dir="ltr" href="https://www.wionews.com/world/putin-gets-covid-vaccine-kremlin-refuses-to-share-details-372644" target="_blank">Putin gets Covid vaccine; Kremlin refuses to share details</a>

Concord has also claimed that Prigozhinrgeted unf is being taairly. "Fraudsters are fraudulently trying to accuse me, a squeaky clean person, of fraud," the company said in a statement.

He has also been named for allegedly funding the &nbsp;Internet Research Agency, a so-called troll farm in Saint Petersburg reported to have waged an online campaign in support of then-candidate Donald Trump in the 2016 US election.

The Kremlin aide has been linked to Wagner private military group, which allegedly sent mercenaries to conflicts in Africa and the Middle East. 
&nbsp;

Kremlin-linked businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin has urged the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to remove his name from the list of wanted criminals, alleging it to be a human rights principles violation.

Kremlin-linked businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin has urged the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to remove his name from the list of wanted criminals, alleging it to be a human rights principles violation. Usually called "Putin's chef", Prigozhin's company catered for the Kremlin. He is wanted by the FBI "for his alleged involvement in a conspiracy to defraud the United States". Global Summit LIVE: If we don't change our ways, crises won't end — Ian Goldin Prigozhin was indicted by the US three years ago for allegedly meddling in the 2016 US presidential elections. He has now written to the FBI calling it to be a violation of human rights under international law. "The FBI must immediately cease offering a monetary award to the public for my capture and delivery to the United States as this violates several principles of human rights under international law," he wrote. His company, Concord, has taken to a social media platform, Vkontakte, on Wednesday, and reported that the company has written to the FBI chief Christopher Wray on March 23 regarding this matter. Also read | Putin gets Covid vaccine; Kremlin refuses to share details Concord has also claimed that Prigozhinrgeted unf is being taairly. "Fraudsters are fraudulently trying to accuse me, a squeaky clean person, of fraud," the company said in a statement. He has also been named for allegedly funding the Internet Research Agency, a so-called troll farm in Saint Petersburg reported to have waged an online campaign in support of then-candidate Donald Trump in the 2016 US election. The Kremlin aide has been linked to Wagner private military group, which allegedly sent mercenaries to conflicts in Africa and the Middle East.

'Putin's chef' urges FBI to remove his name from wanted list of criminals

The Kremlin-linked businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin has vowed to ruin Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who is in a coma in a Berlin hospital.

Kremlin linked tycoon Prigozhin vows to ruin Navalny