Three Years After Prigozhin's Mutiny: Wagner Veterans Still Divided

Three years after Yevgeny Prigozhin's Wagner Group mutiny began on June 23, 2023, former fighters still cannot agree on the significance of the event. Alexander, who served from May 2022 to July 2023 and fought in the Battle of Bakhmut, believes the mutiny was necessary to expose injustice. He recalls Prigozhin personally caring for his men and says they were welcomed as heroes during the march. After returning from Belarus, Alexander opened a private security agency and has no regrets.

Nikolai, who joined Wagner from prison where he was serving time for murder and armed robbery, did not participate in the march because he was at a training range. After the mutiny, his contract was rewritten, his criminal record was not expunged, and he cannot find a job as employers reject former Wagner members. He feels like a persona non grata.

Alexei, a driver who signed a contract at age 47, says Prigozhin took care of his fighters down to small details. After the march, he was sent to Belarus, then to Africa, and now he is back in Russia feeling deceived.

Wagner's "March of Justice" lasted only one day – the force of 25,000 stopped 300 km from Moscow and turned back. Two months later, on August 23, Prigozhin died in a plane crash in the Tver region. The mutiny stemmed from a feud between Prigozhin and then-Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, whom Prigozhin accused of inadequate supply.