Car gifted by Prigozhin to family of dead Wagner fighter linked to nearly 500 traffic fines

A car that Wagner Group head Evgeny Prigozhin gave as a gift to the family of a mercenary killed in Ukraine on Tuesday has been linked to almost 500 traffic violation fines, most of which were for speeding.

On June 14, Prigozhin’s press service posted a video that showed the paramilitary cartel founder standing next to the grave of a Wagner mercenary in the Vladimir region along with the fighter’s family. After he asks the man’s widow whether she needs any help, she mentions that the family’s car is in need of repairs. Prigozhin then says that rather than paying to have her car fixed, he’ll give the family the vehicle that he himself arrived to the cemetery in.

Journalists from the independent outlet Holod have learned that the car Prigozhin gifted the woman is a 2022 Haval H9 that was registered to a car rental company called Interavto, which was unprofitable last year. Between August 22, 2022 and March 15, 2023, the car was linked to 470 fines for a total amount of more than 400,000 rubles ($4,788). The majority of the fines (340) were for speed limit violations.

As of June 15, three of the fines had not been paid (unpaid fines do not transfer to a vehicle’s new owner under Russian law). One of the fines was incurred on June 13, the day of Prigozhin’s visit to the cemetery (again for speeding).