- Russian State TV Launches Campaign to Discredit Yevgeny Prigozhin
- State Media Highlights Prigozhin’s Wealth, Criminal Past, and Greed, but Ignores Criticism of Russian Military
- Extensive Coverage Reveals Damaging Details of Prigozhin’s Life, Including Images of Lavish Residence
After Yevgeny Prigozhin’s failed rebellion in late June, Russian state-controlled television appeared to discredit him.
Key media outlets published photos of searches at his lavish residence outside St. Petersburg, suggesting that his wealth tarnished him.
In addition, they mentioned his criminal past and implied that he was motivated by greed, but they neglected to mention Prigozhin’s persistent and frequently crude criticism of Russia’s military and how it conducts the conflict in Ukraine.
The state media has never covered Prigozhin’s biography so fully, intimately, and damagingly.
Until recently, Russian television praised the Wagner mercenary group, which fought with the Russian military in Ukraine.
On 5 July, images purportedly taken inside Prigozhin’s residence surfaced on the state-run network Rossiya 1.
A commentator on the talk program 60 Minutes stated, “Let’s take a look at how this truth-seeker lived, someone, who has two criminal convictions and who claimed that everyone else was a thief.”
Eduard Petrov joked, “Let’s take a look at the palace built for this anti-corruption and anti-crime activist.”
The video showed stacks of cash, a variety of firearms, the lavish interiors and expansive gardens of the mansion, as well as a parked helicopter, an assortment of wigs, and what appeared to be fake passports issued to Prigozhin under different names.
Later, comparable footage was broadcast as part of the channel’s most popular evening newscast in Russia. It also contained gold bars and “suspicious packets of white powder,” which Rossiya 1 speculated could be a controlled substance.
It also elaborated on Prigozhin’s illicit history.
At 18, he received a suspended two-and-a-half-year sentence for stealing. Two years later, he was convicted of larceny and theft and sentenced to 13 years in jail, serving nine.
Rossiya 1’s correspondent quipped, alluding to Prigozhin’s previous position as a caterer for the Kremlin, “They say that the experience and connections he received from crime lords behind bars helped him make the transition from hot dog vendor to the authoritative master of cauldrons and pans.”
This position garnered him the moniker “Kremlin’s chef.”
Russian state television showed a hammer labelled “Use in the event of crucial negotiations.” This appears to be a reference to the November 2022 sledgehammer murder of a man Wagner accused of treason.
The same evening, Channel One of state television suggested that Yevgeny Prigozhin was linked to Western intelligence, which was “too shy” to acknowledge involvement in his apparent mutiny.
One of the three most-watched television stations in Russia argued that he was motivated by his criminal past and avarice.
It stated, “His personality, business interests, and crime-ridden past influenced his actions.” As for Prigozhin’s alleged wealth, NTV remarked, “Fighting for truth costs a lot of money.
After Russia’s all-out attack on Ukraine, officials, the media, and Prigozhin’s press office denied Wagner’s existence for months.
State television subsequently celebrated Wagner’s participation in the “special military operation” in Ukraine.
Wagner references had nearly vanished from state media by the time Prigozhin began his “march for justice” and vowed to punish Russian military commanders he accused of incompetence.
Prigozhin, who has been virtually mute on social media since his apparent rebellion, has not commented on the images.
One Wagner-affiliated outlet, however, argued that it was not unusual for a businessman as wealthy as Prigozhin to own an expensive home: “What’s the wow factor here, then?” it questioned.
After previously denying any connection between Wagner and the state, President Vladimir Putin stated, shortly after Prigozhin’s failed mutiny, that the state entirely funded the military company, spending approximately $1bn (£787m) on it between May 2022 and May 2023.
