It's Monday, June 26, 2023.

Welcome to the Daily Article Podcast.

I'm Chris Elkins, narrating today's article written by Denison Forum, co-founder and CEO,

Dr. Jim Denison.

On Friday, the man known as Putin's chef seemed to be on the verge of overthrowing Putin himself.

Now he's been exiled to Belarus,

where he may be targeted for assassination.

Meanwhile, Putin remains in power.

But is he really?

Yvgeny Vyodorovich Progoshin was born in 1961

and raised in Leningrad, now St. Petersburg, in the Soviet Union. As a teenager,

he was caught stealing and spent nine years in detention. After his release, he began selling

hot dogs in Leningrad, then became involved with grocery stores, gambling, and the restaurant

business. He met Vladimir Putin along the way and began receiving numerous

government contracts to supply meals to the Russian military and schools. Over time, due to catering

contracts that earned him the nickname Putin's chef, he became a wealthy oligarch. In May 2014,

Progogian founded the Wagner Group, a paramilitary organization that has fought alongside

Russian forces in Ukraine and is accused of horrific war crimes.

As the invasion founded, he became a vocal critic of Russia's military leaders.

Last Friday, he claimed that regular Russian forces launched missile strikes against his

Wagner forces, killing a, quote-unquote, huge number.

In response, he ordered his troops to advance north on Moscow and demanded the ouster of Russia's

...