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The secret trips of tycoon Wagner before the plane crash 0
(Dan Tri) – Before dying in a plane crash on August 22, leader of the Wagner military group Yevgeny Prigozhin spent time planning for the future, with the goal of increasing operations in Africa.
Mr. Prigozhin’s image appeared in a final video released on August 21, just one day before the plane crash (Photo: Telegram).
On August 17, the private plane carrying tycoon Wagner landed in the capital of the Central African Republic, performing a `rescue` operation in one of the first customer countries of this private military company.
At the Central African Republic’s presidential palace located along the river in the capital Bangui, Mr. Prigozhin told President Faustin-Archange Touadera that the flash uprising in June would not prevent him from sending new troops and provisions.
Soon after, a Wagner helicopter landed nearby carrying five commanders of Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which is the strongest paramilitary organization in Sudan today, specializing in groups of soldiers.
The group came from restive Darfur province and carried a gift for Prigozhin, who had supplied them with surface-to-air missiles: gold bars from mines in Sudan’s war-torn west, where soldiers fought
On the other side of the Sahara, Mr. Prigozhin’s opponents in the Russian government are also sending a competing message to Wagner’s clients in Libya.
Mr. Prigozhin flew back to Russia at the same time, stopping in Mali and flying over the airspace of client countries he was trying to lure away from Russian influence.
It was a fateful final trip that the head of this paramilitary force certainly did not realize.
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The scene of the plane crash that killed Prigozhin and Wagner leaders (Photo: AP).
Military experts say that when the Embraer Legacy 600 jet carrying Prigozhin and Wagner’s closest leaders crashed on August 22, the incident interrupted the war for influence in Africa.
In recent years, Prigozhin is said to have lived by going undercover, changing his wig and always refueling his private jet at airports that allowed him to land.
Along the way, the head of this mercenary corporation traverses his global business empire, trying to prove that he is still in control.
Expand business and influence
The Wagner Group and the shell companies it is affiliated with are mostly known for their mercenary activities.
Western and African officials said Wagner’s income came from exporting gold from Sudan to Russia, and diamonds and wood from the Central African Republic to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and China.
`The different factions involved will likely try to win these lucrative business contracts and create new proxy forces,` said expert David Lewis, from Britain’s University of Exeter.
Countries from Mali to Syria depend on Prigozhin’s mercenary network, and just days ago he offered his services to Niger’s new military government, which came to power last month after a
Only a small group of Wagner officials handpicked by Prigozhin knew about this detailed clause.
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Wagner members in the Central African Republic in July (Photo: Reuters).
Thousands of employees, mercenaries, chefs, mining geologists… were often paid in cash, sometimes in a plastic bag from Mr. Prigozhin.
Secret trips across continents
After the brief uprising, Prigozhin reached an agreement with the Kremlin and transferred his forces to Belarus to seek refuge.
Prigozhin posted audio messages, offering to recruit mercenaries for the military regime that had just taken power in Niger.
The plane carrying Prigozhin regularly turned off its transceiver and avoided airspace that could be monitored.
Prigozhin prefers to briefly introduce himself to social media followers via audio messages, which cannot be geolocated, or via video in hard-to-identify locations.
In October 2022, Prigozhin went to an air force base in eastern Libya to meet with the leader of the Libyan National Army (ANL) group.
According to sources, through an interpreter, Prigozhin asked ANL to pay about $200 million for Wagner to help protect the territory the group controlled, including the country’s oil wells.
Prigozhin believes that ANL’s military group was infiltrated by French and American intelligence.
Five weeks after the flash uprising in Russia, Prigozhin began networking with African leaders at the Trezzini Palace hotel in St Petersburg, one of the venues for the Russia-Africa summit attended by
But none of the African leaders attending were seen with Prigozhin.
Last trip
Prigozhin’s final trip began in the capital Bangui, where President Touadera and intelligence chief Wanzet Linguissara agreed to meet him at the Presidential Palace.
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A person placed flowers in memory of Mr. Prigozhin in front of Wagner’s office in Novosibirsk (Photo: Getty).
President Touadera’s spokesman has not commented on the above information.
At the meeting, Prigozhin said Wagner would increase its presence to ensure security and facilitate new investments in agriculture.
According to a close Sudanese official, Prigozhin said: `I need more gold.`
Wagner’s source of mercenaries and military weapons helped the paramilitary group win a series of battlefield victories against Sudan’s Islamic military government, including the seizure of a weapons factory and base.
`I will make sure you defeat them,` Prigozhin added.
According to flight records, after leaving Bangui, the plane carried Prigozhin to Bamako, Mali, where the tycoon posed in front of local military pickup trucks before returning to Moscow and crashing on the 22nd.