Yevgeny Prigozhin was the leader of Wagner Group, a Russian mercenary company which took part in campaigns in Africa, Syria and Ukraine.

The mercenary leader had been dubbed Putin’s Chef thanks to his catering company in Moscow serving, among other clients, the Kremlin.

While he remained a close ally of Putin for years, cracks started to appear in their relationship at the beginning of the year.

While Wagner men were fighting to conquer the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, Mr Prigozhin accused the Russian defence leadership of being inadequate and not sending enough ammunition and weapons to those on the frontline.

The mercenary leader stressed multiple times he was not criticising Putin, but it is unlikely his blistering words sounded pleasant in the Kremlin.

On June 23, two months before his death, Mr Prigozhin staged a mutiny, entering with tanks in the Russian city of Rostov and sending his men on a march to Moscow.

But the uprising was short-lived and blocked by the intervention of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, who brokered a deal between Putin and Mr Prigozhin.

The Wagner leader and many of his men retreated to Belarus in the following weeks, although Mr Prigozhin is known to have travelled to Russia multiple times during the months prior to his death.