Vladimir Putin spoke out when he reacted last week to the death of Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin. “I knew that one from the early ’90s,” he said — which clashes with the story as it had always been told. It takes us to the time when both men belonged to the Saint Petersburg mafia world. A chapter they had both wisely deleted from their biography. It was defined by the gambling industry, the cocaine smuggling and, of course, numerous murders — even those of Putin’s own patron and tutor.
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Putin’s Mafia Years: The True Story Behind His Friendship With Wagner Boss Yevgeny Prigozhin
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