Pragosian is a man almost entirely formed by his prison experiences. He went to jail aged 18 for 13 years and was let out after nine leading some to suspect he may have cut a deal with the authorities. Pragosian's version of events is that he started the first hot dog stand in St Petersburg inspired by the American example. His restaurants opened fine dining restaurants places where the city's elite went including Vladimir Putin.
Yevgeny Prigozhin rose from hot dog seller to top chef to Russia’s leading mercenary. Journalist Paul Wood and Harvard’s Timothy Colton explain why he turned on Vladimir Putin this weekend.
This episode was produced by Siona Peterous and Hady Mawajdeh with help from Avishay Artsy, edited by Matt Collette, fact-checked by Laura Bullard, engineered by Patrick Boyd with help from Cristian Ayala, and hosted by Noel King.
Transcript at vox.com/todayexplained
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