Putin-linked businessman admits to US election meddling

Kremlin-connected entrepreneur Yevgeny Prigozhin admitted Monday that he had interfered in U.S. elections and would continue to do so — confirming for the first time the accusations that he has rejected for years. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Monday that Prigozhin’s comments “do not tell us anything new or surprising.” “It’s well known and well documented in the public domain that entities associated with Yevgeny Prigozhin have sought to influence elections around the world, including the United States. In September, Prigozhin also publicly stated that he was behind the Wagner Group mercenary force — something he also had previously denied — and talked openly about its involvement in Russia’s 8-month-old war in Ukraine. Russian media, prisoner’s rights groups and relatives of prisoners this year reported an extensive effort by Wagner — and sometimes Prigozhin personally — to recruit convicts to fight in Ukraine. When fighting broke out in eastern Ukraine between Russian-backed separatists and Kyiv’s forces in 2014, Prigozhin said through his spokespeople that he was seeking to “put together a group that would go and defend the Russians.” Russian laws prohibit the operation of private military contractors, but state media in recent months have openly reported on Wagner’s involvement in Ukraine.