 Prigozin received about 10 billion US dollars from the Russian state. Prigozin has gone off the rails because of big money. Dmitry Kiselev, one of the main faces of the Russian propaganda machine, said on his weekly television show. He thought that he can challenge the Ministry of Defense, the state itself and the president personally. Kiselev stressed, according to AFP. Kiselev said that Wagner's operations in Syria and Africa had given Prigozin a feeling of impunity that was later reinforced by his ragtag forces battlefield successes in eastern Ukraine. Without providing any evidence, Kiselev said Wagner had received more than 858 billion rubles or 9.7 billion US dollars in state funds. In a stunning admission earlier this week, President Vladimir Putin said for the first time that Russian authorities fully financed the paramilitary outfit between May 2022 and May 2023, Wagner received more than 86 billion rubles from the Russian state. Putin said private mercenary groups are banned under Russian law, targeted by sanctions from Washington and Brussels. Prigozin had for years operated in the shadows, but has catapulted into the limelight since Putin sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022. In profanity-laced diatribes, he accused the Russian military of attempting to steal victories from Wagner in eastern Ukraine and slammed Moscow's monstrous bureaucracy for slowing military gains.