Prigozhin's media empire dismantled: A legacy ends
The companies that were part of Yevgeny Prigozhin's media holding survived their founder by more than a year. However, they are now being liquidated. Information about the end of their operations appeared this week on the Telegram channel of the press office of the founder of the so-called Wagner Group.
Patriot Holding was established in 2019, with Prigozhin serving as chairman of the supervisory board. The consortium included not only the Federal News Agency (FAN) and Newskiye Novosti but also organisations such as Politika Sevodnya and Ekonomia Sevodnya. The group comprised 600 different media outlets.
History of the Internet Research Agency (IRA)
Some of these companies, primarily FAN and Newskiye Novosti were previously part of the Internet Research Agency (IRA), which had been operating in St Petersburg since 2013. The troll farm, as it was colloquially known, gained wider recognition three years later.
Its primary task was to spread Russian propaganda and disinformation on the internet, particularly on social media. In 2017, the US authorities accused Prigozhin and his troll farm of interfering in the 2016 US presidential elections and imposed sanctions on him.
For many years, Prigozhin denied any connections to the troll farm, only admitting in 2023 on Telegram that he was its creator and led it for many years.
It was founded to protect the Russian information space from boorish aggressive propaganda of anti-Russian narrative from the West – CNN quoted him.
Activities of the Wagner Group
Prigozhin also founded a private military company known as the "Wagner Group," which was active during the annexation of Crimea by Russia in 2014, in Syria, Africa, and since 2022, also in Ukraine. In June 2023, Prigozhin initiated a "march on Moscow," demanding the dismissal of then-Minister of Defence Sergei Shoigu. Ultimately, he retreated, and on 23rd August 2023, he died in a plane crash.
The closure of the Patriot holding resulted from the Wagner Group rebellion. The Russian Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology, and Mass Media (Roskomnadzor) attempted to revoke all licences of companies belonging to the holding. Still, the court rejected the request on formal grounds. In 2024, Prigozhin's troll farms continued to spread disinformation about the war in Ukraine, as reported by the American newspaper "The Wall Street Journal" in March 2024.
Final decision on liquidation
Only on 15th October 2024 did the Telegram channel "Prigozhin's Cap" announce that "the company's management decided to liquidate the companies previously part of the Patriot media group." It was also mentioned: "it's time to move on."
It was a fascinating project that grew from nothing into the leading Russian media holding. Many specialists who now hold significant positions in both business and public service went through Patriot's school – it was stated.
According to information from the St Petersburg portals Rotunda and Fontanka, Ilya Gorbunov, associated with Prigozhin, proposed to his heir – Pavel Prigozhin – to resume the holding's operations but was refused. Radio Free Europe reported that in June 2024, Gorbunov and Kirill Metelev, editor-in-chief of the portal Concretely.ru, were detained in connection with extorting €39,000 from Alexander Malkiewich, a former general director of the St Petersburg television channel linked to Prigozhin and currently a member of the city parliament.
