Monitor ISSUE 30
Wagner, Prigozhin retain Telegram channels’ support While uncertainty surrounds the future of the Wagner Group in Russia following its mutiny against the Russian armed forces in late June, Yevgeny Prigozhin and the Wagner Group still retain the support of a large network of social media channels, Russian specialist Gleb Borschevsky writes.
Yevgeny Progozhin has been in the headlines as a mercenary boss ever since the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Over the past decade, the Russian businessman also built a vast media empire: the Patriot media group,
Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin leaves Southern Military District in Rostov-on-Don
He was also the founder and financier of the so-called Internet Research Agency, a “troll factory” behind numerous Russian disinformation campaigns, cyber-attacks and election meddling in the West, most notably in the US. Prigozhin’s most prominent venture, the private military company (PMC) Wagner Group, has also amassed a huge presence on social media, most notably on the popular messenger app Telegram. Following the abrupt end of Wagner’s mutiny against the Russian military and the shutting down of the Patriot media group on 30 June, traditional media outlets linked to Prigozhin ceased their operations. However, Prigozhin and Wagner still appear to be supported by a sprawling network of Wagner-linked Telegram channels. The following is an overview of these channels, categorised by the degree of their affiliation with Prigozhin.
Prigozhin was behind the Patriot media group, a cluster of eleven pro-Kremlin and far-right outlets MONITORING.BBC.CO.UK
STRINGER/ANADOLU AGENCY VIA GETTY IMAGES
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a cluster of eleven pro-Kremlin and far-right outlets linked to each other through shared traits, such as having identical physical addresses and founders.