Timeline: What led to the standoff between Russia and Prigozhin

For years, Yevgeny V. Prigozhin, the Wagnerian mercenary leader who led a brief rebellion against the Russian military, was a staunch supporter of Russian President Vladimir V. Putin.
In recent months, he has continued to avoid directly criticizing Mr. Putin, even as he increasingly uses social media to castigate the Russian military, accusing its leaders of treason and blaming them for failing to provide sufficient resources to its forces.
But in the past two days it has gone after the good -founded Mr. Putin's so-called special military operation in Ukraine, sent his forces to seize the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don, a military hub, and began to move Wagner convoys to Moscow. Mr. Putin mobilized Russian troops to put down what he called an armed rebellion, and the Belarusian president, an ally of Putin, negotiated a halt to Wagner's advance.
Here's a look at Mr. Prigozhin's story and some of the claims he made:
December 2016
The United States imposed sanctions on 15 Russian entities, including Mr. Prigozhin, for their dealings in Crimea, which Russia illegally annexed in 2014, and Ukraine, where separatists backed by Russia seized the territory the same year. The Treasury Department has targeted businessmen associated with Mr. Putin or involved in activities that contributed to Russia's destabilization of Ukraine.
February 2018
Mr. Prigozhin was one of 13 Russians indicted by a federal grand jury in the United States for interfering in the 2016 presidential election through the Internet Research Agency, a troll factory that spread lies and conducted a information warfare to support Donald J. Trump's campaign.
September 2022
Mr. Prigozhin publicly admitted for the first time that he was the founder of the Wagner mercenary organization, whose fighters were deployed alongside Russian troops in Ukraine. Previously, Wagner fighters had operated in support of Kremlin military campaigns in Africa and the Middle East, occasionally battling US forces.
October 2022
Mr. Prigozhin was one of two powerful Putin supporters to publicly attack Russian military leaders after they ordered a withdrawal from Lyman, a key town in eastern Ukraine, stressing that the withdrawal was a major embarrassment for the Kremlin.
November 2022
Just one day before the midterm elections in the United States, Mr. Prigozhin boasted sardonically that Russia was interfering in the elections.
"Gentlemen, we have intervened, we are intervening and we will intervene", Mr. Prigozhin said in a statement issued by his catering company. “We will do it with care, precision, surgically as we are able to do. During our targeted operations, we will remove both the kidneys and the liver....

World Jun 25, 2023 0 75 Add to Reading List

Timeline: What led to the standoff between Russia and Prigozhin

For years, Yevgeny V. Prigozhin, the Wagnerian mercenary leader who led a brief rebellion against the Russian military, was a staunch supporter of Russian President Vladimir V. Putin.

In recent months, he has continued to avoid directly criticizing Mr. Putin, even as he increasingly uses social media to castigate the Russian military, accusing its leaders of treason and blaming them for failing to provide sufficient resources to its forces.

But in the past two days it has gone after the good -founded Mr. Putin's so-called special military operation in Ukraine, sent his forces to seize the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don, a military hub, and began to move Wagner convoys to Moscow. Mr. Putin mobilized Russian troops to put down what he called an armed rebellion, and the Belarusian president, an ally of Putin, negotiated a halt to Wagner's advance.

Here's a look at Mr. Prigozhin's story and some of the claims he made:

December 2016

The United States imposed sanctions on 15 Russian entities, including Mr. Prigozhin, for their dealings in Crimea, which Russia illegally annexed in 2014, and Ukraine, where separatists backed by Russia seized the territory the same year. The Treasury Department has targeted businessmen associated with Mr. Putin or involved in activities that contributed to Russia's destabilization of Ukraine.

February 2018

Mr. Prigozhin was one of 13 Russians indicted by a federal grand jury in the United States for interfering in the 2016 presidential election through the Internet Research Agency, a troll factory that spread lies and conducted a information warfare to support Donald J. Trump's campaign.

September 2022

Mr. Prigozhin publicly admitted for the first time that he was the founder of the Wagner mercenary organization, whose fighters were deployed alongside Russian troops in Ukraine. Previously, Wagner fighters had operated in support of Kremlin military campaigns in Africa and the Middle East, occasionally battling US forces.

October 2022

Mr. Prigozhin was one of two powerful Putin supporters to publicly attack Russian military leaders after they ordered a withdrawal from Lyman, a key town in eastern Ukraine, stressing that the withdrawal was a major embarrassment for the Kremlin.

November 2022

Just one day before the midterm elections in the United States, Mr. Prigozhin boasted sardonically that Russia was interfering in the elections.

"Gentlemen, we have intervened, we are intervening and we will intervene", Mr. Prigozhin said in a statement issued by his catering company. “We will do it with care, precision, surgically as we are able to do. During our targeted operations, we will remove both the kidneys and the liver....