Russian mercenary boss spoke with Kremlin before attacking US forces in Syria, intel claims

A businessman known as “Putin's chef” spoke with top officials in Damascus and Moscow before Russian mercenaries he is believed to control launched a disastrous attack on US and Kurdish forces in Syria, according to US intelligence reports. 

The news comes just days after the businessman, Yevgeny Prigozhin, was indicted in the United States for allegedly running a pro-Kremlin troll factory that interfered in the 2016 election. 

The February 7 attack was the first deadly clash between citizens of Russia and the United States since the Cold War and suggests that tensions in Syria could grow even as the Islamic State is pushed back. Moscow initially denied the casualties. The foreign ministry later admitted at least five Russians had been killed and several dozen wounded, but said they weren't soldiers.

Mr Prigozhin told a senior Syrian official in an intercepted communication in late January that he had received permission from a Russian minister for a “fast and strong” initiative and was waiting for a go-ahead from Damascus, according to intelligence reports seen by The Washington Post. 

US intelligence has said it believes Mr Prigozhin controls the Wagner private military company, and the reports suggest he closely coordinated the group's operations in Syria with the Kremlin. 

The restaurant and catering magnate has in the past won lucrative contracts from the defence ministry. Close to Vladimir Putin, he has personally served the president on several occasions, including during meetings with George W. Bush. 

At the end of January, Mr Prigozhin told Syrian officials that he had a “good surprise” for Bashar Assad “that would come between 6 and 9 February”. Presidential affairs minister Mansour Fadlallah Azzam reportedly promised Mr Prigozhin would be paid for his efforts.

During the same period, Mr Prigozhin began communicating more frequently with top Kremlin officials, including Vladimir Putin's chief of staff Anton Vaino and deputy chief of staff Vladimir Ostrovenko, according to the intelligence reports. He spoke with Russian officials again the day after the calamitous attack. 

Employees at Mr Prigozhin's Concord Catering company and Concord Management and Consulting declined to comment when reached by The Telegraph. The Kremlin had not replied to requests for comment on Friday.

On February 7, between 300 and 500 pro-regime fighters supported by artillery, tank and rocket fire advanced on a Syrian Democratic Forces base at an oilfield near Deir Ezzor, according to the US military. US special forces at the base called in airstrikes that killed 100 enemy fighters, it said. 

Many of those killed were Russians, a friend of one of the dead told The Telegraph last week. The Conflict Intelligence Team, which tracks Russian military activity, has named nine Russians who were killed in the strike and said many were Wagner group employees.

It told The Telegraph that the Kremlin has come to rely on this illegal private military company to keep official casualty numbers low during its pro-Assad bombing campaign. Mr Putin promised not to deploy ground troops and said in December he would withdraw most forces.

A Syrian government contract seen by AP and Russian media promised a company linked to the Wagner group 25% of the profits from oil and gas fields its contractors could capture. 

But it remains unclear why the Russians were allowed to charge to their deaths after US commanders had repeatedly warned their Russian counterparts the force should not advance. 

Analyst Yury Barmin told The Telegraph that the Russian defence ministry may have been hostile toward Mr Prigozhin conducting a major operation without its approval.   

“It looks like internal power struggle,” he said of the February 7 incident. 

Mr Prigozhin has long been tied to the Wagner group, and his Concord Management and Consulting is headed by Dmitry Utkin, who was sanctioned by the United States as Wagner's leader, according to business records. 

A US indictment last week said Mr Prigozhin's trolls impersonated Americans on social media to exacerbate divisions and promote Donald Trump. 

Mr Putin, who thanked veterans of the Syrian operation in a speech last night, awarded a medal on Friday to the widow of a pilot who blew himself with a grenade after parachuting out over rebel territory.