Monday 26 September 2022 11:05 AM Yevgeny Prigozhin, aka 'Putin's chef', confirms he founded Wagner Group trends now
A Russian oligarch dubbed 'Putin's chef' has confirmed for the first time that he founded the notorious Wagner Group.
Yevgeny Prigozhin, whose other business provides catering services to the Kremlin, said he founded the mercenary unit during Russia's first Ukraine invasion in 2014.
The group has since gained a reputation for doing the Russian military's dirty work, leaving a trail of brutal violence, rapes and war crimes in its wake.
It is known to have operated on battlefields from Europe to the Middle East, South America and Africa.
Yevgeny Prigozhin, an oligarch dubbed 'Putin's chef' (left, recruiting prisoners to fight in Ukraine) has admitted founding the notorious Wagner mercenary group
Prigozhin (left), whose other business provides catering to the Kremlin, said he was 'proud' to have brought together 'a group of patriots' to assist first Ukraine was in 2014
'I cleaned the old weapons myself, sorted out the bulletproof vests myself and found specialists who could help me with this,' Prigozhin said in a statement issued by his Concord catering firm on Russian social media site, VKontakte.
'From that moment, on May 1, 2014, a group of patriots was born, which later came to be called the Wagner Battalion. I am proud that I was able to defend their right to protect the interests of their country.'
Prigozhin has long-refuted any association with Wagner, and has threatened to sue
