Leaked diaries belonging to Yevgeny Prigozhin reveal the extraordinary extent of the mercenary leader’s links with Kremlin officials, showing the challenges Putin faces in his efforts to “purge” possible Wagner allies.
Prigozhin, head of the Wagner group and the mastermind behind last month’s rebellion attempt in Russia, kept a decade-long record of his meetings with prominent Russian officials.
The content of these documents may pose a new headache for Vladimir Putin, proving Prighozin’s direct access to members of the Russian President’s inner circle.
The leaked calendar, which runs up to 2021, was obtained early this year by Die Welt and shared with Business Insider.
It has now become a crucial piece of intelligence, in light of last month’s failed mutiny by the Wagner group.
They include numerous entries for Ruslan Tsalikov, deputy minister of defence and Anton Vaino, the chief of staff for Putin’s executive office.
Other notable mentions from these documents are Aleksey Dyumin, a former bodyguard of Putin’s and current governor of the Tula region.
Other notable entries are those showing repeated appointments with Valery Gerasimov, the head of the Russian military, and Sergei Shoigu, the Russian Minister of Defence.
Vladimir Putin is only mentioned twice, although the diaries show Prigozhin had over 70 meetings with the presidential chief of staff.
It is likely that Vladimir Putin’s well-documented paranoia will be exacerbated by these revelations, given the climate of instability since Wagner’s attempted “coup’’ on June 23, which occurred after a period of deteriorating relations between the Russian Ministry of Defence and the leader of the mercenary group.
The Wagner Group is a private military company, previously deployed in Crimea and eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region in 2014.
Its troops have been dispatched in several conflicts since then, including the Syrian Civil War. They have also played a prominent role in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
New reports from Russian local news outlets, echoed by Insider, have revealed that Prigozhin may well be back in Russia, after a short period of exile in Belarus.
These reports cite Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko, who said Prigozhin returned to his home city of St. Petersburg this week.
If confirmed, this unexpected turn of events may be seen as an indication that Putin’s grip on power may be weaker than expected, given his usual ruthless approach to political opponents.
