Houston ∙ With only hours left for the US mid-term elections, a Russian businessman made a shocking revelation. Russian businessman Yevgeny Prigoshin has openly said that he has meddled in the US election and will continue to do so in the future. This is the first outing from someone the administration has charged with trying to influence American politics.
Prigoshin made the admission in a comment posted by the press service of his Concord catering firm on VKontakte, Russia’s equivalent of Facebook. ‘We interfered (in US elections), we interfere, we will continue to interfere. Carefully, accurately, as in surgically. In our own way’ – he clarifies.
The remarks were posted in response to a request for comment from a Russian news site on the eve of the US midterm elections. “During our precise operation, we remove both kidneys and the liver at the same time,” said Prigoshin. He did not elaborate on the comment, which was shrouded in mystery.
Prigoshin is known as ‘Putin’s chef’. Most of the Kremlin contracts go to the catering company he owns. That is why Prigosh got such a nickname. Prigoshyn is also the person the US officially accuses of sponsoring Russia-based ‘troll farms’ that seek to influence US politics.
In July, the US State Department ‘U.S. A reward of up to $10 million was offered for information on Prigosh in connection with election interference. He is a businessman facing US, British and European Union sanctions.
Until recently, Prigozhin lived a relatively unknown life, staying out of the public eye. But after the start of the war in Ukraine, he came to the scene by criticizing the performance of Russia’s generals.
In September, he admitted to founding the pro-Kremlin Wagner Group mercenary group active in Syria, Africa and Ukraine. A defense technology center was also opened in St. Petersburg last Friday. This has been interpreted as an attempt by Prigosh to highlight his military credentials. Experts believe that this is an indication that Prigosh will not be surprised if he receives more responsibilities in Russia in the coming days.
Allegations were raised that Trump became president in 2016 through Russian interference. But Trump has continuously denied this. Meanwhile, the special task force investigating allegations of Russian meddling in the election has indicted 12 Russian intelligence officials for allegedly sabotaging Democratic Party candidate Hillary Clinton’s campaign.
It is the most detailed allegation ever filed by the US government about Russian interference in the 2016 election. The indictment detailed the sophisticated efforts made by Russia’s top military intelligence officials to sabotage the election campaign of Hillary Clinton, Trump’s rival, from hacking personal financial information through the Internet to money laundering and trying to undermine the Election Commission. All this time, Russia has not prepared to make any kind of response in this regard. It is also noteworthy that this kind of reaction of Pregesh is coming in the meantime.
English Summary: Russian businessman Prigozhin admits interfering in U.S. elections