Scramble for Prigozhin’s empire

An impromptu memorial for Prigozhin. — ©️2023 The New York Times Company

AFRICAN leaders allied with Russia had grown used to dealing with Yevgeny Prigozhin, the swaggering, profane mercenary leader who travelled the continent by private jet, offering to prop up shaky regimes with guns and propaganda in return for gold and diamonds.

But the Russian delegation that toured three African countries early this month was led by a very different figure, the starchy deputy defence minister, Yunus-bek Yevkurov.