Wagner Group / Yevgeny Prigozhin

Overview

Wagner Group or PMC Wagner was a Russian private military company established and led by Russian politician and military commander Yevgeny Prigozhin. The group was established in 2014 and participated in the annexation of Crimea and multiple military conflicts around the globe. In 2022, the Group gained widespread recognition over its active involvement in the Russian invasion of Ukraine. In June 2023, Yevgeny Prigozhin directly opposed the Russian Ministry of Defense after accusing them of attacking Wagner divisions, with Russian officials issuing an order for his arrest, moving forces into Russia before retreating back a day later. In August 2023, two months after the rebellion attempt, Yevgeny Prigozhin died in a private plane crash.

History

2023 Potential Coup Attempt

Background

Starting in 2023, Prigozhin has often criticized the Russian Ministry of Defense, and more particularly the Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces Valery Gerasimov and the Minister of Defense of Russia Sergei Shoigu, over supply issues, decision-making and exploitation of the Wagner Group. Most notably, on May 4th, 2023, Wagner Group's official Telegram^[1] channel @concordgroup_official released a video of Prigozhin standing next to corpses of Wagner Group fighters, blaming Russian government officials for not supplying enough ammo to the private army.

June 2023 March Towards Moscow

On June 23, 2023, Yevgeny Prigozhin reported^[2] that the Russian military forces attacked Wagner Group divisions in Ukraine, shelling them and launching attacks from helicopters, killing multiple soldiers. Later that day, Prigoznin announced that the Wagner Group will "deal with those who are murdering Russian soldiers, and return to the frontline after that," threatening Shoigu and other Ministry of Defense officials. Prigoznhin later added that Shoigu personally arrived in Rostov, a Russian city near the Russian-Ukrainian border, to helm the operation and that the minster had since fled the city.^[3][4]

We are 25,000 and we're coming to figure out why the country is a mess. […] The army and the entire country are free to join, let's finish this.^[5]

Prigozhin later denied that the taken course of action was a coup, referring to it as a "march of Justice."^[9]

The Russian Ministry of Defense issued a statement that Prigozhin's accusations of attacks against the Wagner Group are fake and are a provocation.^[8]

Later that day, Russian National Antiterrorist Committee launched a felony investigation over incitement of a military coup, with Prigozhin facing 12 to 20 years in prison if charged and found guilty.^[6][7]

On June 24th, 2023, videos of military vehicles moving through and patrolling Moscow were then circulated on Telegram.^[10][11]

Also on June 24th, the Telegram^[12] channel AP Wagner demanded the National Guard of Russia not to intervene in the "march," stating:

Following criminal orders and attempts to interrupt the planned march of justice will end badly for those who make the wrong choice.

Later on June 24th, 2023, Wagner Group's forces entered Rostov.^[13][15] Prigozhin then claimed that Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces Valery Gerasimov issued an order to attack Wagner Group's military columns moving through the country, thanking the pilots who refused to follow "criminal orders." Later that night, Prigozhin claimed that the Wagner Group shot down a helicopter attacking a "civilian" column.^[14]

On that day, Russian state media including Russia 24, Russia 1 and Channel One all reported on the attempt of armed rebellion.^[16]

On June 24th at 7:30 a.m. local time, Prigozhin shared a video in which he listed key Rostov objects controlled by PMC Wagner and reported that Gerasimov fled the command building upon learning that Wagner Group was on the approach (shown below).^[17]

An hour and a half later, the Russian Ministry of Defense addressed Wagner soldiers, demanding that they contact the representatives of the Ministry and promising them safety.^[18]

On June 24th at 9 a.m. Moscow Standard Time (MSK), Russian President Vladimir Putin made a televised speech in which he called Prigozhin a traitor whose ambitions led him to betray Russia and promised a "tough response" to protect the nation.^[19][20] During the speech, Putin never mentioned Prigozhin's name.

On June 24th, Dutch open-source intelligence defense analysis website Oryx reported that as a result of clashes, Russian forces lost a plane, three helicopters and two vehicles, with Wagner losing a single vehicle.^[21]

Retreat to Belarus

On June 24th, 2023, at 8 p.m. MSK, the press service of Belorussian president Aleksander Lukashenko reported that Yevgeny Progozhin has accepted Lukashenko's offer to stop Wagner forces and de-escalate the situation.^[22] Within 20 minutes, Prigozhin confirmed the report,^[23] writing that Wagner was turning its forces in order to "prevent Russian blood from spilling." The message gained over 418,000 Clown Emoji reactions on Telegram^[24] in two days.

Later that day, Russian media reported that Wagner forces left Rostov.^[24] Vladimir Putin's Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov announced that Wagner Group forces would be returning to their field camps and that Prigozhin himself would return to Belarus. Additionally, the criminal case against Prigozhin would be closed.^[25]

On June 25th, Rostov-on-Don Governor Vasily Golubev confirmed that Wagner Group forces had left the city and were moving back to their field camps.^[26]

On June 26th, Yevgeny Prigozhin shared a voice message in his Telegram channel in which he claimed that "as a result of intrigues and poor decisions PMC Wagner was to be disbanded and cease operations on July 1st, 2023." He said that the initial plan was for the Wagner Forces to arrive in Rostov-on-Don on June 30th to hand over vehicles and equipment, but that following the shelling and the helicopter attack on the Group that killed 30 soldiers, Wagner commanders decided to start the march.^[27]

Death

On August 23rd, 2023, two months after the failed rebellion attempt by the Russian private military company Wagner Group, a private jet carrying Wagner Group chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, Wagner Group alleged co-founder and high-ranking officer Dmitry Utkin as well as five other passengers crashed in Tver region of Russia. Within one hour of the crash, multiple Telegram^[29][30][31] channels posted videos and images of the crash and the crash site (shown below, left and center). Within three hours of the crash, Russian Federal Air Transport Agency^[4] published the list of passengers who travelled on the plane (shown below, right).

Online Reactions

The June 23rd-24th events and their aftermath became a subject of viral discussions and memes online both among Russian-speaking users and in the West. Multiple memes shared on Telegram, VK, Twitter, Facebook and other social media during that period went viral and were widely circulated. For example, on June 24th, 2023, Twitter^[28] user @AltHistCody posted an Avatar Chud meme that received over 1,600 retweets and 36,900 likes in two days. Later that day, Redditor Xx_Dark-Shrek_xX posted a Squidward's Lounge Chair meme that received over 610 upvotes in the /r/dankmemes^[29] subreddit in a similar timeframe (shown below, right).

On June 24th, 2023, tech entrepreneur Elon Musk tweeted^[30] a Girls vs. Boys meme about the attempted march that received over 53,000 retweets and 649,000 likes in two days (shown below).

Related Memes

Prigozhin Pointing

Prigozhin Pointing refers to an image of the Wagner Group chief Yevgeny Prigozhin pointing behind him. Taken from a viral video of Prigozhin complaining about the lack of support from Russian officials during the 2023 Russian Invasion of Ukraine, the image achieved meme popularity due to its similarity to the Two Soyjaks Pointing format.

Search Interest

External References