Eleven engagements with former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, 33 appointments with former bodyguard of President Vladimir Putin. A leaked calendar by Yevgeny Prigozhin is said to show how closely the head of Russia’s Wagner Group has been connected to Putin’s inner circle in recent years.
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According to Business Insider magazine, Prigozhin’s calendar contains a series of appointments for top Russian politicians and high-ranking military personnel. Applications must span a period of ten years through November 2021.
How did Prigozhin’s diary become public?
An anonymous group of hackers calling themselves “Bogatyri” (“Knights”) are said to be hacking the news magazines “Business Insider”, “The World”, “Politico” and non-profit organization “Dossier Center” internal files were leaked earlier this year. The information is from “Business Insider”.
One of these files is said to be Prigozhin’s personal calendar and data from 17,824 attendances over a period of nearly ten years to contain. The “Dossier Center” is said to have helped convert the file into a readable spreadsheet.
Neither the Wagner Group nor Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov commented on the leaked documents.
In evaluating Prigozchin’s calendar, a total of 75 markings were recorded. Russian politician Ruslan Zalikov assigned. Zalikov has been the Kremlin’s deputy defense minister since 2012.
O Russian diplomat Anton Vaino it is said that he had 73 appointments scheduled with the head of the mercenary group. The 51-year-old has been chief of staff of Putin’s Executive Office since 2016 and a permanent member of the Security Council of the Russian Federation.
According to the report, what names are on Prigozhin’s calendar?
75 appointment entries: Ruslan Zalikov
- Deputy Minister of Defense of Russia
73 appointment entries: Anton Vaino
- Chief of Staff of Putin’s Executive Office
36 appointment entries: Valery Gerasimov
- General of the Army, “Chief of the General Staff”
33 appointment entries: Alexei Dyumin
- former bodyguard of Putin and governor of Tula
14 appointment entries: Dmitry Medvedev
- former Russian president and Putin henchman
Another 36 entries were grouped under the heading “Chief of the General Staff”. According to Business Insider, it’s “almost certain” Army General Valery Gerasimov Act. The Commander-in-Chief is said to have played a key role in driving plans for a planned 2014 invasion of Ukraine and is overseeing current developments in the war.
During his verbal attacks on the Kremlin and Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, Prigozhin repeatedly denounced General Gerasimov as corrupt and incompetent.
Eleven phone calls or appointments on Prigozhin’s calendar were given to the general of the Russian army sergei Attributed to Surovikin. Surovikin is sometimes referred to in the media as “General Armageddon” titled and until January 11, 2023 was commander of Russian forces in Ukraine.
Because of his connections with the Wagner group, Surovikin is currently under house arrest – there is no trace of him since the uprising.
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33 meetings with former Putin bodyguards
A total of 33 naming entries contained the name Alexei Dyumin. The 50-year-old is considered a close confidant of the Russian president and was Putin’s bodyguard for a long time.
According to his own statements, he would have protected the head of the Kremlin from a bear attack during this period, when the president resided in a “very distant place in the mountains” and rested at night.
Since 2016, Dyumin is the governor of Tula Oblast. Recently, however, the Russian politician has come under suspicion to cooperate with Prigozhin. When fighters under Prigozhin’s command marched towards Moscow during the Wagner uprising, Russian media speculated that Dyumin should replace current Defense Minister Shoigu.
There are only a few photos showing Putin and Wagner’s boss Prigozhin together. © dpa/Alexei Druzhinin
How often does Putin’s name appear on Prigozhin’s calendar?
According to Business Insider, Prigozhin’s calendar leaves the question of a direct connection between Wagner’s boss and Putin unanswered. Putin’s name was found only twice on Prigozhin’s calendar.
One entry refers to a major military event in September 2015 at the Russian base in Donguz. The second nomination was a televised press conference held by Putin in June 2018 at the large Gostiny Dvor shopping center in Moscow.
Some other entries contained only the word “president”it is said that one of these dates was the celebration of the New Year.
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Other entries containing the word “President” were merged with the Country names “Germany” and “Korea” Error. According to Business Insider, these could be codes for specific locations, as Prigozhin has used to cover his tracks in the past. (teaspoon)