petersburg, russia, and have known each other since the 1990s when prigozhin ran a big catering business. big contracts from the kremlin earned him the nickname of putin s chef, leading him to join the ranks of the country s wealthy oligarchs. he then went on to find the w wagner group, known for its brutal tactics. operating outside russia s military structure, yet fully in support of russia s interests around the world. cnn has tracked wagner mercenaries in so many places. the central african republic in sudan, in libya, in mozambique, in syria definitely, and also now, of course, in ukraine. that critical relationship saw a big shift, though, in just the last few months, when prigozhin began openly criticizing russia s military leaders on their war effort in ukraine. those critiques turned into a