Wagner chief admits founding troll farm

MOSCOW — The chief of Russian mercenary group Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, admitted on Tuesday he had created the infamous troll farm accused by Western governments of fomenting discord and interfering in elections.

After years operating in the shadows, the 61-year-old ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin has in recent months basked in the spotlight as his fighters spearhead the assault for cities in eastern Ukraine.

Sanctioned by Washington and Brussels, Prigozhin has for years been accused of running the Internet Research Agency, a notorious Saint Petersburg-based troll farm.

It has been accused of meddling in elections including in the United States and other Western countries.

On Tuesday, Prigozhin said for the first time that the Internet Research Agency was his brainchild.

"I thought it up, I created it, and I managed it for a long time," he said in a statement.

"It was created to protect the Russian information space from boorish aggressive propaganda of the West's anti-Russian talking points."

On the eve of the US midterm vote last November, Prigozhin admitted to trying to change the outcome of US elections.

He also admitted in September that he had founded the Wagner group whose fighters have been at the forefront of Moscow's offensive in Ukraine.

Prigozhin has personally toured Russian prisons to recruit fighters, and his mercenary group has been accused of committing abuses on the battlefield.

Wagner is also increasingly present in Africa, where Western countries say it has been deployed in Burkina Faso, the Central African Republic and Mali. — Agence France-Presse