Prigozhin wins libel case against journalist who described him as Wagner Group ‘owner’

A Moscow court has dismissed the journalist Alexey Venediktov’s appeal in the libel lawsuit filed by Evgeny Prigozhin after Venediktov described him as the “owner” of a private military company.

Venediktov writes, on Telegram, that the court did not explain why it dismissed the appeal, given that Prigozhin himself has already admitted Wagner Group ownership, publicly conceding “victory” in the case to Venediktov.

Prigozhin sued Venediktov for libel in June 2021. In August 2022, a district court deemed Venediktov’s assertion about Prigozhin’s ownership of the military company inaccurate.

A month later, Prigozhin confirmed having established Wagner Group in May 2014, explaining that until then he’d had to keep this secret.

In response to the court’s dismissal of Venediktov’s appeal, Prigozhin connected the decision to the supposed “consolidation” of public opinion against liberal media that criticize the regime:

I think this dismissal has to do with the incredible consolidation of society and its rejection of the liberal anti-Russian threat.

Alexey Venediktov is the former editor-in-chief of Echo of Moscow, a media company shut down by the Russian authorities shortly after the start of the Ukraine invasion.