Putin Allies Continue In-Fighting: Wagner Founder Wants Russian Governor Investigated For Treason

Allies of Russian President Vladimir Putin appear to be fighting after the founder of Wagner Group requested the FSB and the Prosecutor General to investigate the governor of St. Petersburg for high treason.

Yevgeny Prigozhin, the Kremlin-linked businessman known as "Putin's" chef, made the request in a statement published by his press service on the Russian social media platform Vkontakte on Sunday. The statement did not specify why Prigozhin requested an investigation into St. Petersburg Gov. Alexander Beglov.

"The legal service of the company 'Concord' informs that today Evgeny Viktorovich Prigozhin sent a statement to the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation and the Department of Military Counterintelligence of the FSB of Russia with a request to check the governor of St. Petersburg A.D. Beglov under Article 275 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (high treason)," the statement read, as per Google Translate. "Details of the statement were not disclosed."

In September, various pro-Kremlin sites claimed Beglov's alleged daughter owned real estate in France, a move that could be grounds for treason, according to independent news agency Meduza.

Prigozhin's recent request comes after he previously accused Beglov of promoting "Ukrainian nationalist" interests during the war, adding that the governor "provides colossal support to the Armed Forces of Ukraine."

The accusations later led officials in St. Petersburg to declare that they assisted the Russian forces and the Russian war effort "in every possible way." The officials added that they had been providing medical assistance to the soldiers and their families.

Last month, Prigozhin's Concord Group press service also announced that they had requested Russia's prosecutor general to investigate whether Beglov "created an organized crime group" aiming to plunder the state budget and enrich corrupt officials.

"The text of the application will not be published until the end of the verification. A copy of the application was sent to the Governor of St. Petersburg Beglov Alexander Dmitrievich," the statement on Vkontakte read, as per Google Translate.

It is believed that the feud between Beglov and Prigozhin began after the St. Petersburg governor terminated state contracts that had been awarded to the Wagner group founder in 2021, as per The Moscow Times.