Russia blocks media retailers linked to Wagner Group boss who led temporary riot

By India Today World Desk: Yevgeny Prigozhin, the chief of mercenary Wagner Group who led a short riot in opposition to Russia’s navy management, has had his web retailers blocked and “troll factory” closed down.

The Russian authorities has blocked no less than 5 media retailers — Ria Fan, Politics Today, Economy Today, Neva News and People’s News — affiliated to Prigozhin. There are additionally stories that declare that Prigozhin himself ordered the shut down of St Petersburg-based Patriot.

Patriot, based in 2019 to deliver collectively Prigozhin’s media and web property, included the Internet Research Agency, the so-called “troll farm” linked to Russian makes an attempt to meddle in US elections.

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The crackdown comes days after Russia closed a legal investigation into the armed riot led by Prigozhin.

The feud between Wagner and the military had escalated for months, with Prigozhin making more and more scathing statements in opposition to the generals’ dealing with of the offensive in Ukraine, blaming them for hundreds of Russian losses.

Russian officers have been making an attempt to place the disaster behind them for 3 days, with the federal government dropping prices in opposition to rank-and-file Wagner troops and the navy making ready to disarm the group. However, all of it culminated in a short riot led by Yevgeny Prigozhin that was seen because the gravest risk to this point to President Vladimir Putin’s grip on energy.

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Prigozhin stated his objective was to forestall his Wagner militia’s destruction, and to drive accountability on commanders who had botched Russia’s navy marketing campaign in Ukraine.

“We went as a demonstration of protest, not to overthrow the government of the country,” Prigozhin stated hours after ending his riot to “avoid bloodshed”.

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Now it seems that the Wagner Group boss and his fighters, who escaped prosecution and had been provided refuge in Belarus final week, won’t ever be mentioned in Russia once more. But, questions stay over how Russia allowed the violence of its operation in Ukraine to spill again into Russia.