Who is Yevgeny Prigozhin, founder of Russia’s Wagner Group? After years of lurking in the shadows, Yevgeny Prigozhin has stepped into the spotlight amid Russia’s all-out war in Ukraine in 2022. Back in 2014, he set up the Wagner Group, a set of mercenaries now at the heart of Russia’s efforts to capture the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut. But what was Prigozhin up to before Wagner? | The Kyiv Independent