Power struggle in Putin’s hometown: Wagner boss attacks governor

In the Russian metropolis of St. Petersburg, a power struggle between the head of Wagner’s private army, Yevgeny Prigoshin, and the governor Alexander Beglow comes to a head. Prigozhin on Friday denounced the 66-year-old politician from the Kremlin United Russia party as an “asshole” out of place in the city and again called for criminal investigations against him. Beglow has been leading the hometown of Russian President Vladimir Putin since 2018 – first as interim governor, then as head-elect since 2019.

The governor appointed by Putin has long been under fire from the influential businessman. Now, however, in his blog on the Telegram news channel, Prigozhin accused the governor of lying to the public and ignoring the security situation in the metropolis on the Gulf of Finland, which is popular with tourists. There was initially no comment from Beglow.

In particular, Prigozhin, who runs his company and also Wagner’s private army from St. Petersburg, accused the governor of remaining inactive following the assassination of Kremlin-affiliated military blogger Vladlen Tatarsky. Tatarsky, whose real name was Maxim Fomin and a staunch supporter of Russia’s war against Ukraine, was killed in a bomb attack at a cafe in Prigozhin on Sunday. 40 people were injured. A woman was arrested as a suspected murderer.

“Beglow has not provided any assistance after this terrorist attack. I also believe that it is his fault that there is no security in the city that could have prevented this,” Prigozhin said. Law enforcement would have to deal with Beglow. “He is absolutely useless to this city.” Shortly before, Prigozhin had filed a criminal complaint against Beglov with the National Investigative Authority in Moscow, accusing the governor of allowing hundreds of cultural monuments, many of them UNESCO World Heritage Sites, to decay in the former metropolis of the tsars. )