98. Putin’s Secret Army: The Rise Of Prigozhin (Ep 1)

The Rest Is Classified

Goalhanger

History

4.6 • 732 Ratings

🗓️ 10 November 2025

⏱️ 41 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

From Putin’s chef to Putin’s butcher, this is the story of Prigozhin. A man on the brink of oligarchical power who flew a little too close to the sun… Listen as David and Gordon begin a new series on the ill-fated life of the head of the infamous Wagner Group, Yevgeny Prigozhin. ------------------- THE REST IS CLASSIFIED LIVE 2026: Buy your tickets HERE to see David and Gordon live on stage at London’s Southbank Centre on 31 January. ------------------- Try Attio for free at https://www.attio.com/tric ------------------- Join The Declassified Club: Start your free trial at ⁠⁠therestisclassified.com⁠⁠ - go deeper into the world of espionage with exclusive Q&As, interviews with top intelligence insiders, quarterly livestreams, ad-free listening, early access to episodes and live show tickets, and weekly deep dives into original spy stories. Members also get curated reading lists, special book discounts, prize draws, and access to our private chat community. To sign up to the free newsletter, go to: ⁠⁠https://mailchi.mp/goalhanger.com/tric-free-newsletter-sign-up⁠ ⁠ ------------------- Order a signed edition of Gordon's latest book, The Spy in the Archive, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠via this link.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Order a signed edition of David's latest book, The Seventh Floor, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠via this link.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ------------------- Email: [email protected] Twitter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@triclassified⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Social Producer: Emma Jackson Video Editor: Vasco Andrade Producer: Becki Hills Head of History: Dom Johnson Exec Producer: Tony Pastor Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	For exclusive interviews, bonus episodes, ad-free listening, early access to series,
0:09.0	first look at live show tickets, a weekly newsletter, and discounted books.
0:13.1	Join the declassified club at the rest is classified.com.
0:17.3	You have Genie Progogian, restaurateur to Vladimir Putin, co-founder, the Inters Wagner Group,
0:23.7	who a couple of years ago led a mutiny, which was the closest Vladimir Putin has ever come to
0:30.9	being toppled from power.
0:32.3	He's one of Russia's richest and most powerful oligarchs.
0:36.4	He knows what people want.
0:38.3	Progoshin brings this entrepreneurial streak to violence.
0:41.3	The man, the Kremlin, calls on to do its dirty work.
0:45.3	He is moving into a space that really only Putin should be in.
0:49.3	The government depends on Wagner for its survival.
0:52.3	At the moment of the peak, he's going to fly too close to the sun.
0:56.0	The world watched as the Wagner group turned on Russia's military.
1:00.0	The Afghani Progogian was enraged by what he says were Russian strikes on his troops in Ukraine.
1:06.0	This is the moment where you go civil war.
1:09.0	Putin is the ultimate apostle of payback, so I would be surprised if progoge
1:13.6	escapes further retribution for this.
1:16.6	If you cross Putin, the likelihood is you're going to die.
1:21.6	I've never been a chef.
1:32.9	I used to be a restaurateur and quite successful.
1:36.8	I can't cook myself.
	...

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