Wagner group leader's monument defaced in St. Petersburg
"Everyone who will try to resist, we will consider them a danger and destroy them immediately, including any checkpoints on our way. And any aviation that we see above our heads," declared Yevgeny Prigozhin when he started the coup and march on Moscow. After the tragic and mysterious death of the Wagner Group leader, a monument was erected in his hometown of St. Petersburg, but it became the target of vandals. Someone showed it no mercy or respect.
Yevgeny Prigozhin was certainly one of the most important figures in the two-and-a-half-year-long conflict in Ukraine. His mercenaries employed by the Wagner Group were a key source for the Russian army to compensate for losses. They were also sent to fight on the most difficult fronts.
Over time, however, Prigozhin increasingly became a political figure targeting the then-Russian Minister of Defence, Sergey Shoigu. His impulsive appeals, in which he openly shouted into the camera, "Shoigu, Gerasimov! Where the hell are the munitions?!" have gone down in history.
However, the most crucial moment in Prigozhin's life was his mad dash to Moscow, which was preparing for defence for the first time since World War II. The global media closely followed every move of the Wagner Group, which ultimately stopped short of the Russian capital.
Prigozhin's bronze monument defaced with white paint
Then, Prigozhin likely sealed his fate, which was carried out on 23 August 2023. Almost a year after these events, a bronze monument of the Wagner Group leader was erected in a St. Petersburg cemetery. There, devoted mercenaries began to make "pilgrimages" to pay their respects.
Although for many, Prigozhin's grave became a sort of shrine, his opponents saw it as a potential target. The effect was not long in coming, as on Friday, 19 July, an act of vandalism occurred, during which the monument was defaced with white paint and an erotic gadget was placed in the outstretched hand of the Wagner Group leader.
The monument of the deceased Wagner Group leader was defaced with paint, and a fake phallus was placed in his hand – according to the Lenta of the Day Telegram account.
