Wagner boss Prigozhin was 'treated for cancer and had nothing to lose' before mutiny

Wagner Group boss Yevgeny Prigozhin launched an apparent mutiny against Moscow last month and experts now say the decision was largely motivated by his health< /p> Yevgeny Prigozhin launched an apparent mutiny against Moscow in June (

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Yevgeny Prigozhin's decision to start a mutiny against Moscow may have been prompted by an ongoing journey with cancer, according to a new report tonight.

The oligarch's former employees said the 62-year-old had undergone treatment for stomach cancer. They told it, however, to a publication now banned in Russia and claimed that Prigozhin had little to lose with the Wagner Group's march to Moscow.

It ended in a dramatic turnaround when, in late June, Prigozhin accepted Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko's proposal to halt the advance.

It is understood that the mercenary leader's stomach cancer is now in remission after a 'long period' of 'serious therapy', but former employees say they noticed their boss is still on a strict diet - even after treatment - and that he was apparently otherwise healthy.

Members of the Wagner group arrest a man in the city of Rostov-on-Don, during their advance last month (

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AFP via Getty Images)

“[Prigozhin] had cancer. Now the process of tumor formation seems to have been stopped,” said a former employee. Another said, "He's a man with a stomach and intestines cut out."

They spoke to Proekt, a Russian publication now banned in the country. He also reported that employees had never seen the oligarch take drugs or drink alcohol.

"Since he fell ill and then recovered, he forbade everyone to communicate with drug traffickers in Africa or Syria. They will put you in a hole", another...