Yevgeny Prigozhin, the leader of the Russian mercenary group Wagner, launched a surprise attempt to stage a military uprising on Friday evening. Prigozhin declared his armed campaign, which he called a “march of justice,” to hold the country’s military leaders to account.
In a rapid series of events, Wagner’s forces advanced toward Moscow the following day after seizing control of the southern city of Rostov-on-Don, a key command center in the war in Ukraine.
In times like these, sometimes all you can do is make a few memes.
Here’s a look at some of our favorite memes from Prigozhin’s aborted mutiny:
Before founding the Wagner Group, Prigozhin had experience in gastronomy. He was nicknamed “Putin’s Chef” for his involvement in the food supply for the Kremlin and various Russian elites.
Another meme related to Prigozhin’s culinary past.
Ratatouille: The rat turns out to be a cook
Russia:
Translation: Рататуй: крыса оказалась поваром
Russia:— Харик Оханисян (@Garik_R_O) June 24, 2023
Iosif Prigozhin, a well-known music producer who shares the same last name as Yevgeny Prigozhin but has no family connection with him, figured prominently in many of this weekend’s memes.
These memes playfully switched roles and used imagery of Iosif Prigozhin to humorously depict him taking control of Dubai, alluding to a hypothetical military coup scenario.
The photo shows Iosif Prigozhin with his wife, the singer Valeriya.
Iosif Prigozhin shared his thoughts on the memes confusing him with the head of Wagner:
“It’s not even laughter through tears. It was a big worry. And the fact that I was kind of trapped in that situation – I don’t even know how to react. It’s like a new role for me, reminiscent of some kind of fiction.” Movie. It’s a strange fusion I’ve been living in lately,” said Iosif Prigozhin.
After the Wagner group arrived in Rostov-on-Don, some residents shared photos of the fighters and jokingly expressed interest in finding potential love partners among them.
“Please find me, we were on Budennovsky [Prospekt]/Pushkinskaya [Ulitsa] at 4:43!! You are sweet.”
After the negotiations between Prigozhin and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko that led to the end of the rebellion, Lukashenko was portrayed in a meme as Michael Jackson “lowering” a gun pointed at himself.
Lukashenko pic.twitter.com/oi5dDgjZY9
— El Suco (@EISuco) June 24, 2023
Meme makers also showed Lukashenko rescuing the ill-fated submersible Titan from the depths of the Atlantic Ocean.
– After 6 days, the passengers of the Titan submarine were rescued!
– But how?!?!
– …
Some ridiculed the Moscow mayor’s tendency to declare a citywide day of rest whenever something goes wrong.
“Some cops***: *happens*
Sobyanin: Let’s rest!”
