Kremlin's Massive Funding of PMC Wagner Group Raises Concerns and Questions
PMC Wagner Group, a private military company founded by Yevgeny Prigozhin, has reportedly received over $9.7 billion in Russian budget funds from May 2022 to May 2023. This contradicts Russian President Vladimir Putin's claim that the Kremlin only provided a tenth of that amount to fund the mercenaries. Prigozhin's Concord company group also received $9.6 billion from the Russian budget. The revelation highlights the scale of the business and the ambitions of Prigozhin's operations. The conflict between Prigozhin and Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu has been ongoing, with Prigozhin demanding Shoigu's resignation. Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko intervened and struck a deal with Prigozhin to halt the advance of Wagner forces on Moscow in exchange for dropping charges and changes at the Russian Ministry of Defense. Prigozhin's jet has been spotted in Belarus since then, suggesting he may be relocating there temporarily.