Prigozhin, Putin’s confidant, says he is influencing the US elections

The head of the Russian paramilitary group Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, claims to have interfered in the US elections. The United States has accused the Russian businessman of meddling for years, but until now it has always denied it.

“We have meddled, we are meddling now and will continue to meddle. Carefully, accurately, surgically and in our own way,” Prigozhin wrote on VKontakte, a Russian variant on Facebook. “During our precise surgeries, we will remove both the kidneys and the liver at once.” He didn’t explain what he meant by this.

The message was published on the eve of the “midterms”, when the Americans will elect a new House of Representatives and will also be able to vote for some seats in the Senate.

The White House called Prigozhin’s confession “unsurprising” in a response. “Entities associated with Yevgeny Prigozhin are known to have tried to influence elections around the world, including the United States,” said press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.

In the summer, the US State Department offered a $ 10 million reward for information about Prigozhin for involvement in US election meddling. It is on the sanctions list of the United States, the European Union and Great Britain.

Recently, Prigozhin declared himself the head of the Wagner group, which also fights in Ukraine. A striking confession, given that Prigozhin for years denied being the head of the Wagner group, also suing journalists who accused him of having links with the paramilitary organization. The paramilitary organization also benefits from anonymity due to serious human rights violations.

Prigozhin is an ally of President Putin. For a long time he has been supplying food to the Kremlin, among other places. Because of that role, he is also called “Putin’s cook”.

Russian experts close to the Kremlin told Reuters news agency they do not expect the midterm to turn out to be in Russia’s favor. While some Republicans oppose continued military aid to Ukraine, Moscow expects aid packages to continue for some time.

“The old Congress is in office until January and will pass a pretty serious package (of military aid to Ukraine) before it expires,” said Fyodor Lukyanov, editor of Russia in Global Affairs magazine.

“Then there will probably be more difficult and longer negotiations on aid. Perhaps aid will also be less frequent. But in essence, the goal remains to weaken Russia as much as possible by supporting Ukraine,” continued Lukyanov.

Prigozhin uses his assets for the interests of Russia and Putin. Among other things, he financed the Internet Research Agency (IRA), a so-called troll factory in St. Petersburg. That organization has been polluting the internet with propaganda, fake news, and disinformation since 2013.

Lately, Putin’s “cook” has become more public. He openly criticized the leadership of the Russian military for poor results in Ukraine.

After the successful counter-offensive by the Ukrainian army in the Kharkov region a month ago, the businessman asked Russian commanders to take their medals. Also, as for Prigozhin, they had to be sent to the front barefoot with guns.