Putin’s chef is now more popular than Vladimir in Russia: Internet searches show Russians are more interested in the Wagner mercenary chief than their president
- Russians appear to be more curious about Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin
- Google Trends from May showed Prigozhin had greater popularity than Putin
The Wagner mercenary chief nicknamed ‘Putin’s chef’ has become more popular than the Russian president, according to recent internet searches in Russia.
Russians appear to be more curious about former prisoner and oligarch Yevgeny Prigozhin than their own leader Vladimir Putin.
Last month, as a feud between Prigozhin and Russia’s Ministry of Defence continued to escalate in the public eye, Russians were scouring the internet for information about the Wagner chief twice as often.
According to a Google Trends search by Russian news outlet Verstka, Russians began searching more for Prigozhin in early May, with interest peaking by the end of the months.
From May 28 to June 3, his popularity was at the level of 100 points (the peak level), while Putin’s was significantly less at 28.
Russians appear to be more curious about former prisoner and oligarch Yevgeny Prigozhin than their own leader Vladimir Putin
The Russian despot’s popularity appears to have taken a hit as Russians spent more time searching for information about the Wagner boss instead
Russian’s searched for ‘Putin’s chef’ 744,000 times in May, while there were just 305,000 searches for ‘Vladimir Putin’.
Anton Gerashchenko, an adviser to Ukraine’s minister of internal affairs, tweeted about the findings: ‘Prigozhin’s conflict with the Russian defense ministry led to his growing popularity that now exceeds the popularity of Putin.
‘In May Russians looked for information about Prigozhin online twice as often as they searched for news about Putin.’
Prigozhin, dubbed Putin’s chef due to owning a catering firm which stages lavish Kremlin banquets for the president, has become a prominent figure during Russia’s 16-month invasion of Ukraine.
His Wagner mercenaries are credited with seizing the embattled city of Bakhmut from Ukrainian armed forces after months of bloody warfare. But their success has seemingly angered regular Russian army commanders.
Prigozhin has repeatedly attacked Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu for what he casts as treachery, slamming him for failing to fight the war in Ukraine properly and taunting him about coming to the frontline.
Tensions with Moscow were ratcheted up when mercenaries kidnapped a frontline Russian general this month, who admitted in a humiliating video to being drunk on duty after allegedly firing on a Wagner vehicle.
Prigozhin (centre), dubbed Putin’s chef due to owning a catering firm which stages lavish Kremlin banquets for the president, has has become a prominent figure during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
A video later emerged which showed the general, Roman Venevitin, accusing Wagner of torturing Putin’s soldiers and Prigozhin of discrediting the army – a crime which could see him jailed.
Prigozhin, known for his expletive language, has launched several verbal tirades at Putin’s military leaders in recent months.
In a furious ran last month, Prigozhin screamed vulgar insults at Russia’s army whom he described as ‘smelly scumbags’ and ‘b*******’.
The Wagner boss said he was ‘deeply outraged’ by Putin’s troops doing ‘f*** all’ to prevent explosive drones falling on Moscow.
‘Smelly scumbags! What are you doing? Get your a**** up from the offices you’ve been put in to protect this country,’ he said.
‘You are the Ministry of Defence. You’ve done f*** all in order to advance. Why the f*** are you allowing these drones to fly to Moscow? Who gives a s*** that they are flying to your homes on Rublyovka! Let your houses burn.
More recently, he labelled it a ‘disgrace’ that Kyiv’s troops were able to push back Russian lines and seize Berkhivka, a town in the northern suburbs of Bakhmut.
Today, he reiterated the refusal of his Wagner fighters to sign contracts with the defence ministry, a day after Putin said the agreements were needed as Moscow moves to take control of the private group.
In a rare direct show of defiance towards the Russian leader, Prigozhin said: ‘None of Wagner’s fighters is ready to go down the path of shame again. That’s why they will not sign the contracts.’
In a televised meeting on Tuesday, Putin backed a call by the defence ministry for ‘volunteer’ fighters in Ukraine to sign contracts with the country’s military command, widely seen as a means to assert control over Wagner.
Putin said that contracts were necessary to allow all participants in Russia’s campaign in Ukraine to receive the social support payments to which they are entitled. These include compensation to fighters if they are wounded, and to their families if they are killed in action.
Prigozhin has criticised the Russian army for not doing enough to stop the ongoing Ukrainian counteroffensive – which while in its early stages, has resulted in seven villages being recaptured.
He even appeared to praise Ukraine by admitting they were ‘doing everything right’ – in stark contrast to Putin’s claims that it has been ‘unsuccessful’.
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