The anonymous intruders – who call themselves “bogatyri” (the Russian equivalent of medieval knights) – got their hands on a series of internal files belonging to the Wagner Group earlier this year. They shared it with the news sites Die Welt, Insider, and Politico, as well as with the research agency The Dossier Center for fugitive Russian dissident Mikhail Khodorkovsky.

Turns out one of the cracked files contained a personal agenda for Yevgeny Prigozhin. With the exception of a few periods—the first invasion of Ukraine in 2014 and the US presidential election in 2020—it provides a detailed picture of the daily life of Chief Wagner, from his appointments with his personal physician to the times he takes over. Nutritional supplements. In addition, it also contains a whole series of meetings and phone calls with Russian generals and Putin’s senior staff.

Explained in 80 seconds: Who is the chief of Wagner Yevgeny Prigozhin? (video)

Prigozhin met Putin in St. Petersburg. The chief occasionally came to eat at one of the restaurants he owned there at the time. Although they have been photographed together several times, it is not clear how close they are. Putin’s name appears only twice on Prigozhin’s agenda, and it’s not about face-to-face meetings. The first time for an event at a Russian military base in September 2015 and the second time for a press conference given by Putin at a shopping mall in Moscow in June 2018.

There are some appointments that mention the word “chief”. These include a New Year’s party and two named after the two countries: Germany and Korea. This may be a code for a specific place.

It is evident that Prigozhin had direct access to Putin’s inner circle through 75 appointments he planned with Ruslan Tsalikov (deputy defense minister since 2012) and 73 appointments with Anton Vaino (head of the Russian presidential administration since 2016).

There are also 36 appointments with a person described as “Chief of the General Staff”. It is almost certainly General Valery Gerasimov, the commander of the Russian forces in Ukraine. Together with Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, he became one of Prigozhin’s sworn enemies.

In addition, the name of Alexei Dyumin, Putin’s former bodyguard and now governor of the Tula region in western Russia, appears 33 times. Dumin is one of the Putin supporters who came into disrepute after Prigozhin’s revolt at the end of last month. Russian media speculated during the “March for Justice” that Dumyin might succeed Shoigu.

The same story with General Sergei Surovikin, Prigozhin’s ally who disappeared from the scene after the uprising of the Wagner Group. Wagner’s boss met him 11 times.

Explanation in a minute and a half: Who is the Russian General Sergey Surovikin? (video)

Dmitry Medvedev – President of Russia from 2008 to 2012 – is on the agenda 14 times, but some of the meetings are said to have been with his associates.

Putin’s personal agenda expires in November 2021. After that, there is only one deadline, which may have been used earlier: to obtain a “helicopter license” in April 2022.

The document therefore provides no insight into what Prigozhin did in the period surrounding the invasion of Ukraine at the end of February 2022. In the months that followed, however, he increasingly stepped out of the shadows, culminating in the siege and capture of the city. Bashmut. There he lost tens of thousands of men.