Prigozhin had beaten contractors
Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin had a man dubbed “The Teacher” who beat up employees, according to The Project.
“The Teacher” beat up people who’d fallen out of favor in a basement, the report said.
An ex-staffer told the outlet he would send Prigozhin photos to see if the beatings should continue.
The head of the Russian mercenary Wagner Group hired a man nicknamed “The Teacher” to beat up his own employees, according to a new report.
Independent Russian news outlet The Project reported multiple cases over several years of Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin having opponents, critics of President Vladimir Putin, and his own employees beaten up if he thought they defied him.
A man dubbed “The Teacher” beat up employees in a basement in Prigozhin’s office, according to the report. It said the violence was a “daily occurrence” there.
Vyacheslav Tarasov, a former senior employee in Prigozhin’s office, said in a video last month that “The Teacher” then sent Prigozhin photos so he could decide whether to continue the beating or “whether you’ve had enough,” The Project reported.
Another employee told The Project that his coworker disappeared for a few weeks after causing trouble at a meeting, and when he returned said he was being beaten up in the office basement.
The coworker showed yellow bruises all over his body as proof, the employee said.
It’s unclear what roles these employees had with Prigozhin and his large organization.
The Wagner Group gained global attention for its brutal tactics and for its role in the conflict in Ukraine, where it sent thousands of mercenaries and released prisoners.
The group is also active in Africa and the Middle East.
Prigozhin has long been considered an ally of Putin, but his status with the Kremlin is now unclear after he and his forces mutinied last month, capturing military facilities in a key Russian city and started to march on Moscow.
Prigozhin eventually agreed to go into exile in Belarus, but the Kremlin later said he met with Putin and they discussed a future role for the group, and that Prigozhin pledged his loyalty.
