Yevgeny Prigozhin is apparently expanding his sphere of power. The head of the Wagner mercenary group announces the establishment of a research facility in St. Petersburg. Russian specialists are said to be working there on new military technologies.
The head of the Russian mercenary group Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, has announced the opening of a military research facility in St. Petersburg. The so-called “Wagner Center” is to house specialists who deal with “increasing Russia’s defense capability,” said the businessman close to the Kremlin on his Telegram channel. The location is therefore an office complex that was acquired by a company from Prigozhin in 2019 and is located in the east of the city.
“The Wagner Center is a building complex in which there are places for free accommodation of inventors, designers, IT specialists, experimental productions and start-ups,” the statement said. The aim is to create a favorable environment for new ideas to make Russia less dependent on imports. According to Prigozhin, the opening is scheduled for November 4. If the project proves successful, branch offices will be considered. Current photos from the Russian state agency TASS show the building from the outside. The name “Wagner-Center” is already emblazoned above the entrance.
According to the US think tank Institute for the Study of War (ISW), Prigozhin has a unique position in the Russian power apparatus. The 61-year-old repeatedly criticizes the Russian military leadership without being punished for it. Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin is dependent on the Wagner mercenaries in Ukraine and is presumably allowing Prigozhin to do his thing, even though he is undermining the position of the army leadership, the institute wrote last week.
According to US analysts, Prigozhin is part of the “War to Victory” faction in Moscow. In addition to his Wagner mercenaries, he is currently said to be setting up another volunteer unit for the fight in Ukraine with the former Russian secret service officer Igor Girkin. The ISW writes that Prigozhin’s expansion of the military structure parallel to the Russian army could be dangerous for Putin.
