Yevgeny Prigozhin, an entrepreneur known as “Putin’s chef” because of his catering contracts with the Kremlin, has admitted interfering in US elections and said he will continue to do so – confirming for the first time accusations he has been rejecting for years.
“We have interfered, are interfering and will continue to interfere. Carefully, precisely, surgically and in our own way,” he said in remarks posted on social media by his representatives.
Mr Prigozhin, a dozen other Russian nationals and three Russian companies were charged with operating a covert social media campaign aimed at fomenting discord and dividing American public opinion ahead of the 2016 US presidential election.
They were indicted in 2018 as part of special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian election interference.
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The Justice Department in 2020 moved to dismiss charges against two of the indicted firms, Concord Management and Consulting LLC and Concord Catering, saying it had concluded that a trial against a corporate defendant with no presence in the United States and no prospect of meaningful punishment even if convicted was likely to expose sensitive law enforcement tools and techniques.
Mr Prigozhin had denied involvement in election interference until now.
He also previously denied ties to the Wagner mercenary force, but in September admitted to founding and financing it in 2014 and started speaking openly about its involvement in the war in Ukraine.
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