Iosif Prigozhin is a Russian music producer for singer Valeriya, Vakhtang Kikabidze, Nikolai Noskov, Aleksandr Marshal, Avraam Russo, Kristina Orbakaite, and others. He was born on April 2, 1969, in Makhachkala, Dagestan ASSR, Russian SFSR, USSR.
On March 11, 2014, he signed an appeal by cultural figures of the Russian Federation in support of the annexation of Crimea. In August 2016, he claimed that neither he nor his wife, singer Valeriya, had signed any documents endorsing Russia's occupation of Crimea.
In August 2015, the SBU included Prigozhin on the blacklist of cultural figures posing a threat to Ukraine's national security.
In March 2017, he was entered into the database of the "Myrotvorets" website for participating in Russian propaganda events, illegally visiting Russian-occupied Crimea, and other infractions.
During the 2018 presidential election, he served as Vladimir Putin's confidant for a fourth term.
Since January 7, 2023, he has been under sanctions by the NSDC for anti-Ukrainian activity.
On July 20, 2023, he was included on Canada's sanctions list against "persons using their art to propagate Russia's invasion of Ukraine."
Iosif Prigozhin's Stance on the War in Ukraine
Following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Iosif Prigozhin, in an interview with Moskovskij Komsomolets, advocated the necessity of conducting the so-called SMO, echoing Kremlin narratives:
I follow the news and do not interfere with politicians solving problems. For now, we can only analyze what is being said. The only thing I can say: Biden is having a blast right now. Today is his day. He accomplished his goal. And another important question for me right now is: why do peaceful citizens of Ukraine need to be supplied with weapons? I have a question for America and Europe: why pit the peoples of Ukraine and Russia against each other? What is the goal when they blockade Russia? Today this looks like an attempt to create a kind of gas chamber for Russians. Everything is simple: they are trying to destroy the Russian world. And this was planned long ago, and they were arming Ukraine long ago, unfortunately. People who don't want war aren't supplied with weapons. Have you ever seen the Russian army handing weapons to Russian citizens? Have you seen us being campaigned to go to war? No... And whatever Zelenskyy says, he remains an inexperienced person to me. He lacks leadership qualities. Look at Yanukovych: he feared for people's lives, stood up and left so that there would be no bloodshed. But Zelenskyy charges headlong, talks in slogans, he doesn't even have his own words left!
On March 25, 2023, a 35-minute audio recording of a conversation purportedly between Iosif Prigozhin and billionaire Farkhad Akhmedov was widely circulated in the media. In the recording, both interlocutors use profanity to sharply criticize Russia's leadership and the grim prospects for Russia's future. The most interesting gems of this conversation:
They lost to Kvartal 95,« »Two complex-ridden midgets,« »They f***ed everything up, everything,« »The question is, what comes after them? And how will it be? On one side, f***ing Kadyrovites, Prigozhinites will come, there will be oprichniks. It will be 'Makhnovshchina.' They'll be brandishing daggers and sledgehammers,« »It will be fascism. That's what will happen! A military dictatorship. You'll see. That's how it will all end,« »He doesn't give a f*** about anything. And he doesn't give a f*** about the people. He is Satan, f***... He is not a helmsman, he never steered. He always said what was written for him. They created a media hero out of him. And in situations like this, he turned out to be who he really is... An empty suit!
Later, Prigozhin issued a statement claiming the recording was a "deepfake" created using neural networks.
In May 2023, on the air of the "People's Front," Prigozhin and Valeriya confirmed their support for the so-called SMO and tacit financial backing of the Russian army.
