After Mercenary Rebellion
Prigozhin’s media group is closed
07/02/2023, 2:00 p.m
Yevgeny Prigozhin not only founded the private Wagner army. His corporate conglomerate also includes the media group Patriot Media, whose best-known medium is the news site RIA FAN. It will now be closed.
According to the director of one of its subsidiaries, the media group controlled by Russian mercenary boss Yevgeny Prigozhin is to be closed. “I announce our decision to close and leave the country’s information space,” RIA FAN chief Yevgeny Zubarev said in a video circulated late Saturday night. He didn’t give a reason.
He spoke a week after the brief mutiny of the Wagner mercenaries ordered by Prigozhin. Prigozhin created not only this private army. His corporate conglomerate also includes the media group Patriot Media, whose best-known medium is the news site RIA FAN. The failed mercenary rebellion now puts the fate of Prigozhin’s entire corporate network in question. Patriot Media has long taken a strongly nationalist editorial stance, supporting Russian President Vladimir Putin. Patriot Media also provided positive coverage of the Wagner mercenaries and Prigozhin himself.
However, the Russian newspaper Kommersant reported on Friday that the media regulator Roskomnadzor had blocked channels connected to Prigozhin. The agency could not be reached for comment on Sunday. Subarev praised Patriot Media’s performance and said the company had defended both Prigozhin and Putin against opposition attacks, including those of jailed Putin critic Alexei Navalny. Patriot Media worked against Navalny and other representatives of the opposition “who really tried to destroy our country”.
Exile in Belarus
Prigozhin founded the Wagner Group in 2014. The wealthy businessman, who spent the last decade of the Soviet Union in prison for robbery and fraud, has military and mining contracts in Africa. His mercenaries are active in Mali, Syria and Libya, among other places. Prigozhin also owns a huge catering company that has supplied state institutions for years, as well as so-called troll factories, which are used to try to influence political opinions and decision-making processes via the Internet.
Following the mutiny, Prigozhin went into exile in Belarus on the basis of an agreement with the Russian leadership. His fighters were given the choice of following him, being integrated into the Russian armed forces, or retiring to private life. Despite the rebellion, the Wagner group is not officially banned. However, Putin said a few days ago that the finances of Prigozhin’s catering company would be checked. Russian media also reported that a troll factory allegedly used by Prigozhin to influence public opinion in other countries, including the United States, has been shut down.