When 77-year-old Violeta Prigozina opened her own gallery in downtown St. Petersburg a few years ago, for most she was a three-year-old woman who followed her passion for painting. But she had a special connection: she was the mother of the notorious founder of the Wagner private military group and a former “cook”. Putin“, Evgeny Prigogine.

Despite dozens of sanctions imposed on Prigozhin, even before Russian invasion of Ukraine, due to the monstrous crimes committed by the organization, it seems that he and his family managed to remain unaffected by them. Until a few days ago, his children roamed freely around Europe, while many people from his immediate family circle not only contribute to, but also play an active role in his business network.

A few months earlier, through his channel on Telegram, Prigozhin criticized the “traitors” of the Russian elite who “live abroad, vacation abroad and raise children abroad.” However, on February 20, 2022, four days before his country’s invasion of Ukraine, his young daughter Polina was spotted at a horse show in southern Spain. Prigozhin’s two daughters have been involved in hundreds of such matches, according to the Financial Times. However, none of the horses they sometimes rode are registered in their father’s name.

Although all his private property is valued in the West, the horses were suddenly registered in Russian registries in the name of other people, and his daughters still show them in Europe.

In addition, searches in Russian business documents show that all of his children have shares in his enterprises, which they often exchange among themselves. His son Pavel, who also received her “black cross”. Wagner fights with a group in Syria, is currently the head of the Lakhta Plaza company, which has been under sanctions since March 2022. His youngest daughter Veronica, who recently turned eighteen, turns out to be the owner of a company that owns a large hotel in the center of St. Petersburg.

While Europe is trying to cover up its missteps by imposing sanctions on family members as well, the effort appears to be fruitless. Wagner exists not as a specific economic entity, but as a network of enterprises with unclear relationships between them. A few months ago, he wrote to the account of Concorde, his “central” company: “I don’t care about restrictions, and I will always don’t care about them.”