The Wagner Group's Inner Circle

This blog post offers an overview of key figures in the Wagner Group-Russian government nexus, supplementing our comprehensive report. For a full analysis and deeper insights, we encourage readers to explore the complete report, The Wagner Group’s Little Black Book: Decoding Command and Control of Russia’s Irregular Forces.

On a day-to-day basis, the head of the Wagner Group managed the businesses that facilitated the network’s paramilitary wing, liaised with high-level officials within the Russian government, including the president’s office, and personally steered information operations such as Lakhta Media, one of the entities accused of meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. From his perch in the back office’s St. Petersburg hub, Prigozhin’s calendar was filled with meetings: lawyers, accountants, filmmakers, media managers, and real estate specialists, all working to keep his sprawling empire of hundreds of limited liability companies (LLCs) humming along.

In the last year of his life Prigozhin often made grandiose claims about his role as a swashbuckling paramilitary leader. But the available data painted a somewhat different picture, indicating that he likely rarely directly oversaw Wagner’s military field operations. He delegated that task to Wagner Group director Andrei Troshev, who served as Prigozhin’s primary conduit to the group’s paramilitary wing. This division of labor underscores the Wagner Group's dual nature: part business venture, part shadow army.

Analysis of leaked documents, calendar entries, and a network mapping of the paramilitary’s administrative structures and phone book schema further confirms that Prigozhin was more an executive frontman than paramilitary commander. Instead, it appears that high-level Kremlin gatekeepers inside President Vladimir Putin’s office and in the upper echelons of the defense ministry controlled and shaped the overall strategy while active duty and semi-retired reserve officials in Russia’s military and security services coordinated operations at the field level.

Prigozhin’s personal calendar from 2012 to 2022 reads like a Kremlin rolodex, revealing a decade of extensive coordination with Russia’s military and security elite. Between 2012 and 2022, he held 128 meetings with Anton Vaino, Putin’s chief of staff and likely Prigozhin’s most direct line to the president. Prigozhin’s calendar entries confirm that he met at least twice with Andrei Belousov during his tenure as First Deputy Prime Minister and Putin’s economic advisor. Moreover, reporting by the Dossier Center suggests that the two likely met more frequently and enjoyed cozy relations, working closely to resolve any issues that came up with management of the Wagner portfolio on an informal basis almost from the inception of the Wagner Group concept in 2014. Belousov would go on to replace Sergei Shoigu as Minister of Defense in May 2024.

Prigozhin’s calendar shows occasional meetings with then-Minister of Defense Sergei Shoigu and Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov, but the bulk of his recorded interactions were with deputy defense ministers and heads of defense ministry directorates. Prigozhin met at least 122 times with Ruslan Tsalikov, the first deputy minister of defense and Shoigu’s longtime close associate. He also met 91 times with Dmitry Bulgakov, deputy minister of defense for logistics, who played a central role in provisioning the Wagner Group with equipment and transportation resources.

Both Tsalikov and Bulgakov were caught up in the sweeping purge the Kremlin initiated in the wake of the Wagner mutiny. Putin removed Tsalikov from his position in June 2024, part of a cabinet shuffle that saw the ouster of four top deputy defense officials on the same day who oversaw ministry finance, contracting, and information management. The government dismissed Bulgakov in September 2022 due to logistical failures during Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and arrested him on corruption charges in July 2024. Bulgakov’s replacement, Mikhail Mizintsev, also appears in Prigozhin’s calendar: he served as the Ministry of Defense’s logistics chief for less than a year before joining the Wagner Group as deputy commander. Timur Ivanov, another deputy minister of defense, appeared in Prigozhin’s calendar 15 times. As with Bulgakov, authorities dismissed and arrested Ivanov on corruption charges in April 2024.

Prigozhin’s calendar shows four meetings with Sergei Rudskoy, head of the Main Operations Directorate; 23 with Igor Kostyukov, chief of the GRU, Russia’s military intelligence agency; and 17 with Kostyukov’s deputy, Vladimir Alekseyev, who was a key architect of both the Wagner Group and Redut, a paramilitary recruiting hub that has largely supplanted Wagner in Ukraine. This constant engagement with the top echelons of Russia’s military, security, and intelligence establishment points to Prigozhin’s role as the chief liaison between the state and the Wagner Group.

Beyond these high-level government contacts, Prigozhin focused on steering his business interests, taking a particularly keen interest in the network’s information operations. He met frequently with figures like Mikhail Burchik, who headed Lakhta Media and spearheaded Internet Research Agency disinformation campaigns, and lawyer Yevgeny Burleev, whose team coordinated Prigozhin’s international lawfare campaigns, including lawsuits against foreign investigative journalists. Prigozhin also maintained regular contact with Valery Chekalov, the Wagner Group’s logistics chief, likely ensuring the paramilitary wing had what it needed to operate across multiple theaters.

While Yevgeny Prigozhin managed the Wagner Group’s business affairs and cultivated high-level government connections, Andrei Troshev emerged as the command nexus of its paramilitary operations. A battle-hardened veteran of Afghanistan and Chechnya and former commander in the Ministry of Internal Affairs’ special forces, Troshev served under the title of “director” or “executive director,” effectively operating as chief of staff from 2014 onward.

Internal documents reveal his direct oversight of both tactical field operations and the organization's internal security apparatus. Troshev’s unique position at the nexus of the back office network connected him to more sectors than any other figure. He bridged the St. Petersburg Combat Group administrators (which later evolved into the “Council of Commanders”), the group’s internal security service, and its operations in Sudan, the Central African Republic, and Syria. This central role made Troshev the linchpin of Wagner’s sprawling paramilitary machine.

Among all the figures directly involved in Wagner’s paramilitary operations, Troshev had the most frequent contact with Prigozhin, with the possible exception of logistics chief Valery Chekalov. Between 2012 and 2022, Prigozhin’s calendar logged nearly 200 calls or meetings with Troshev, identified by his nickname “BB” or code number 102. By comparison, Dmitry Utkin, the titular commander of the paramilitary operation under Troshev, appears in only eight entries, listed by his code number 555.

Troshev parted ways with Prigozhin and the Wagner Group just before their short-lived mutiny, sparking resentment among some of the organization’s field commanders, who disparaged him on social media as an ineffective drunk. Nonetheless, Putin selected Troshev to coordinate volunteer units for the Ministry of Defense in Ukraine, appearing with him publicly in September 2023. Troshev’s loyalty appears to have shifted to the government, continuing a role similar to his Wagner responsibilities.

The third figure in the Wagner Group triumvirate, alongside Yevgeny Prigozhin and Andrei Troshev, was Dmitry Utkin, whose call sign “Wagner” became the group’s namesake. A veteran special forces operator, Utkin was field commander from the organization’s inception. After the Wagner mutiny in June 2023, Russian media published a document dated May 1, 2014, signed by both Prigozhin and Utkin, outlining their respective duties. Utkin’s responsibilities included recruiting and training a team and maintaining discipline within the group.

However, Utkin’s role within the Wagner network appeared more focused on field operations. In the group’s 2018 back office directory, where he was listed under both Syria and St. Petersburg Combat Group administrators, Utkin had three backup contacts, compared to Troshev’s six. Two of these contacts, a communications officer and a duty officer for Syria, were shared with Troshev. Furthermore, Utkin met with Prigozhin far less frequently than Troshev, with only eight recorded meetings in Prigozhin’s calendar. Internal documents consistently depict Utkin as subordinate to Troshev within Wagner’s organizational structure.

As Chief of Staff of Putin’s Presidential Executive Office, Anton Vaino served as an important gatekeeper between the Wagner Group and the highest echelons of Russian power. Prigozhin’s personal calendar records 128 entries for Vaino between 2012 and 2022. These meetings occurred regularly, regardless of fluctuations in Prigozhin’s other business activities. The frequency and consistency of these interactions suggest that Vaino was one of Prigozhin’s primary conduits to President Vladimir Putin, likely facilitating Wagner’s operations and ensuring their alignment with Kremlin objectives. Vaino's connection to Putin runs deep, with their relationship dating back to Vaino’s role as Putin’s chief of protocol. This position likely made him instrumental in catering arrangements, including the 2006 Group of Eight (G8) Summit in St. Petersburg, where President Bush dined at Prigozhin’s Old Customs House restaurant.

The ties between Wagner and the president’s office extend beyond personal connections. Internal documents, such as Prigozhin’s requests for state medals for Wagner personnel, contain metadata linking them to the Federal Agency for State Property Management. This agency, under the president’s office, controls strategic state corporations like Rostec, Russia’s massive military-industrial conglomerate.

Minister of Defense Sergei Shoigu and Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov were key figures in Russia’s military hierarchy and its relationship with the Wagner Group. Despite Prigozhin’s public animosity towards them, his calendar reveals a working relationship: 32 meetings with Shoigu and 11 with Gerasimov between 2012 and 2022.

While both the Ministry of Defense and the General Staff fall under the same umbrella, they serve distinct functions. The Ministry of Defense handles administrative and logistical matters, while the General Staff, though technically within the Ministry of Defense, operates as a parallel structure responsible for planning and executing military operations.

Prigozhin’s calendar shows more frequent meetings with Shoigu and Gerasimov’s immediate subordinates, suggesting that joint task force management occurred at the deputy minister level, while higher-level strategic planning involved Shoigu and Gerasimov directly.

The careers of both men diverged in the aftermath of the Wagner mutiny and subsequent military shakeup. In May 2024, Shoigu transitioned from his role as Minister of Defense to Secretary of the Security Council, replacing Nikolai Patrushev, while Gerasimov, as of September 2024, has retained his position as Chief of the General Staff, weathering Putin’s reorganization of military leadership.

As First Deputy Minister of Defense from 2015 to 2024, Ruslan Tsalikov was a linchpin in the Wagner Group’s operations. Prigozhin’s calendar records 122 entries for Tsalikov between 2012 and 2022, second only to Anton Vaino among high-ranking officials. This frequent contact suggests Tsalikov was a key liaison between Wagner and the Russian military establishment, likely coordinating logistical support and strategic alignment. However, following Prigozhin’s August 2023 death, Tsalikov fell victim to Putin’s shakeup of the Russian military establishment. As Defense Minister Shoigu moved to the Security Council in May 2024, Tsalikov, Shoigu’s longtime confidant, abruptly stepped down to pursue local politics in Tuva.

Dmitry Bulgakov, Deputy Minister of Defense for Logistics from 2008 to 2022, was a key figure in sustaining Wagner Group operations. Prigozhin’s calendar shows 91 entries for Bulgakov, highlighting his pivotal role in the Wagner-military nexus. Bulgakov's oversight of logistics facilitated the flow of weapons and supplies to Wagner forces. After taking over military logistics in 2008, the cost of soldiers’ rations doubled and quantity tripled, despite troop reductions. This raised suspicions of corruption, with accusations that Bulgakov favored Prigozhin’s catering company, Concord. The government dismissed Bulgakov in September 2022 for his role in logistical failures during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and arrested him on corruption charges in July 2024 amid a wider purge of the Ministry of Defense.

Mikhail Mizintsev’s career exemplifies the fluid boundaries between Russia’s official military and paramilitary structures. From December 2014, he headed the National Defense Control Center, a key command structure subordinate to the General Staff, meeting with Prigozhin at least six times in this capacity. In September 2022, Mizintsev replaced Dmitry Bulgakov as Deputy Minister of Defense for Logistics, a role that involved approving ammunition transfers to Wagner forces. After less than a year, he left this position to become the Wagner Group’s deputy commander.

Timur Ivanov, Deputy Minister of Defense from 2016 to 2024, embodied the close ties between Russia’s military structures and private interests in the defense sector. Prigozhin’s calendar includes 15 entries for Ivanov, whose responsibilities included approving many of the defense contracts won by Prigozhin’s companies, which helped finance Wagner Group operations. Even after Prigozhin’s death, Ivanov’s influence persisted, allegedly negotiating with Prigozhin’s son, Pavel, over control of oil and gas fields in Syria and diamond mines in the Central African Republic. Ivanov’s career ended abruptly in April 2024 when he was arrested on charges of accepting $12.2 million in bribes from defense contractors.

Sergei Surovikin, dubbed “General Armageddon” for his brutal tactics in Syria, including mass bombing campaigns, embodies the complex relationship between Russia’s military and the Wagner Group. As Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Aerospace Forces from 2017 to 2023, Surovikin maintained significant Wagner connections. Prigozhin’s calendar shows eight entries for Surovikin between 2012 and 2022, with their relationship likely deepening during shared involvement in Russia’s Syria campaign. Internal documents reveal that Surovikin had a “VIP” Wagner employee number, suggesting an honorary status within the paramilitary. He reportedly liaised between the Ministry of Defense and Wagner, with Prigozhin advocating for his leadership in the Ukraine war. Notably, during Prigozhin’s June 2023 mutiny, Surovikin was one of only two figures (along with Vladimir Alekseyev) chosen to publicly call for Prigozhin to stand down—a telling choice in crisis. Following the mutiny, Surovikin vanished from public view, was removed from his position as Aerospace Forces chief in August 2023, and later resurfaced as head of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) Air Defense Coordinating Committee in September 2023.

Sergei Rudskoy, head of the Main Operational Directorate of the General Staff and First Deputy Chief of the General Staff, met with Prigozhin only four times between 2012 and 2022, according to Prigozhin’s calendar. However, other evidence points to a deeper connection. A February 2018 letter from Prigozhin’s employees to Rudskoy advocated for increased Russian engagement in Africa, outlining potential geostrategic goals. During the July 2020 arrest of 33 Wagner members in Minsk, Prigozhin’s team urgently drafted a letter to Rudskoy explaining their perspective, indicating an ongoing working relationship. As head of the Main Operational Directorate, Rudskoy holds one of the most prominent positions in planning and executing Russian military operations. As of September 2024, he has weathered Putin’s shakeup of the military leadership and remains in his position, which he has held since 2015.

Igor Kostyukov, head of the Main Directorate—better known as the GRU, Russia’s military intelligence agency—met with Prigozhin 23 times between 2012 and 2022, according to Prigozhin’s calendar.

Vladimir Alekseev, First Deputy Head of the GRU, has been a pivotal figure in Russia’s intelligence operations and the GRU’s involvement with irregular military formations. Alekseev's ties to the Wagner Group run deep. During Prigozhin’s June 2023 mutiny, Alekseev appeared in a video attempting to dissuade the mutineers, claiming he had worked with Wagner “from the first day of the existence of the organization.” Internal documents confirm close cooperation between Wagner and the GRU under Alekseev's management in Syria in 2016. Moreover, phone records show Alekseev and Prigozhin in contact at crucial moments, including just before the full-scale invasion of Ukraine and during the mutiny itself.

In January 2022, Alekseevand Prigozhin reportedly clashed over Alekseev's private military company, Redut, recruiting Wagner veterans. Redut, a GRU-run recruiting hub for irregular formations operating in Ukraine, has largely replaced the Wagner Group as the primary means by which the Russian state funnels irregular volunteer units into the Ukraine war effort.

As of late November 2023, Alekseev was seen awarding fighters of the Hispaniola Battalion, a volunteer unit within the Redut system. Post-mutiny reports suggest the GRU assigned all unconventional operations targeting Ukraine to Alekseev, affirming his continued significance in Russia’s military intelligence operations and the GRU’s use of irregular formations.

An analysis of Prigozhin’s calendar shows that one of his most frequent contacts was Sergei Vladimirovich Pavlenko, with 821 entries under the code number 575. Pavlenko shares the same name as the Russian official who has led the Federal Penitentiary Service (FSIN) in the Kirov region since 2020. If they are the same man, Prigozhin’s regular coordination with a colonel in Russia’s prison service—along with occasional meetings with other FSIN officials, including at least two with Gennady Kornienko, FSIN director from 2012 to 2019—fits with Wagner’s extensive history of prison recruitment. Many of Wagner’s senior field commanders had criminal backgrounds, with several joining the group immediately after serving prison sentences.