A year ago, Russian mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin challenged the Kremlin with a mutiny

On a lazy summer weekend a year ago, Russia was jolted by the stunning news of an armed uprising. The swaggering chief of a Kremlin-sponsored mercenary army seized a military headquarters in the south and began marching toward Moscow to oust the Defense Ministry’s leaders, accusing them of starving his force of ammunition in Ukraine.

Yevgeny Prigozhin and his soldiers-for-hire called off their “march of justice” only hours later, but the rebellion dealt a blow to President Vladimir Putin, the most serious challenge to his rule in nearly a quarter-century in power.

Prigozhin’s motives are still hotly debated, and the suspicious crash of the private jet that killed him and his top lieutenants exactly two months after the rebellion remains mired in mystery.

A look at the mutiny and its impact:

Prigozhin, an ex-convict, owned a fancy restaurant in St. Petersburg where Putin took foreign leaders. That earned Prigozhin the nicknamed of “Putin’s chef.” Those ties won him lucrative government contracts, including catering for Kremlin events and providing meals and services to the military.

He founded the Wagner Group, a private military contractor, in 2014, using it to advance Russia's political interests and clout by deploying mercenaries to Syria, Libya, the Central African Republic and elsewhere. Wagner fighters provided security for African leaders or warlords, often in exchange for a share of gold mines or other natural resources.

Prigozhin gained attention in the U.S., where he and a dozen other Russians were indicted by the Justice Department for creating the Internet Research Agency — a “troll farm” that focused on interfering in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. The case was later dropped.

After Putin invaded Ukraine in 2022, Wagner emerged as one of the most capable of Moscow’s fighting forces. It played a key role in capturing the eastern stronghold of Bakhmut in May 2023.

Prigozhin was allowed by the Kremlin to swell Wagner's ranks with convicts, who were offered amnesty after serving six months on the front line. He said 50,000 were recruited, and 10,000 of them died in the ferocious battle for Bakhmut.

The war added to Wagner's reputation for brutality. In a video that surfaced in November 2022, a former Wagner mercenary who allegedly defected to the Ukrainian side but later was captured by Russia, was shown being beaten to death with a sledgehammer, the mercenary group's symbol.

For months in 2023, Prigozhin complained bitterly about the military brass denying his forces the needed ammunition in Ukraine. In open political infighting, he blasted then-Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and General Staff chief Gen. Valery Gerasimov in profane rants on social media, blaming them for military setbacks and accusing them of corruption.

The Defense Ministry's order for Wagner to sign contracts with the regular military appeared to be the final trigger for Prigozhin's extraordinary rebellion on June 23-24.

His mercenaries swiftly took over Russia’s southern military headquarters in Rostov-on-Don, reportedly hoping to capture Shoigu and Gerasimov. But they weren't there.

Prigozhin ordered his forces to roll toward Moscow, saying it wasn't a military coup but a "march of justice” to unseat his foes. The mercenaries downed several military aircraft en route, killing over a dozen pilots. Security forces in Moscow went on alert and checkpoints were set up on the southern outskirts.

At the height of the crisis, Putin went on TV and called the rebellion by his onetime protege a “betrayal” and “treason.” He vowed to punish those behind it.

But Prigozhin abruptly aborted the march hours later in an amnesty deal brokered by Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko. The mercenary forces were offered a choice of moving to Belarus, retiring from service or signing contracts with the Russian Defense Ministry.

Prigozhin later said he launched the uprising after he “lost his temper” in the infighting with his foes. Some commentators said he apparently hoped to persuade Putin to take his side against the military brass — a grave miscalculation.

On Aug. 23, two months to the day after the rebellion, a business jet carrying Prigozhin, 62, and his top associates crashed while flying from Moscow to St. Petersburg, killing all seven passengers and a crew of three.

State investigators have yet to say what caused the crash.

A preliminary U.S. intelligence assessment concluded there was an intentional explosion on board. Western officials pointed to a long list of Putin foes who have been assassinated.

The Kremlin has denied involvement and rejected Western allegations that Putin was behind it as an “absolute lie.”

Prigozhin was buried in his hometown of St. Petersburg in a private ceremony.

Several thousand Wagner mercenaries moved to a camp in Belarus after the mutiny. Soon after Prigozhin's death, most left that country to sign contracts with the Russian military to redeploy to Africa or return to fighting in Ukraine. Only a handful stayed in Belarus to train its military.

Russian authorities formed a Wagner successor, Africa Corps, using it to expand military cooperation with countries there. Moscow has emerged as the security partner of choice for a number of African governments, displacing traditional allies like France and the United States.

Elements of Wagner and other private security companies continue to operate in Ukraine under the control of the Defense Ministry and the Russian National Guard.

“Despite the spectacular demise of Prigozhin himself and the problems that Wagner got itself into as a result of that, the model — the idea of a private company profiting from this war — is one that is attractive to a lot of people in Russia,” said Sam Greene of the Center for European Policy Analysis.

Prigozhin’s demise sent a chilling message to Russia's elites, helping Putin contain the damage to his authority inflicted by the rebellion.

A crackdown continued on his political foes, with many either fleeing the country or ending up in prison. His biggest opponent, Alexei Navalny, died in an Arctic penal colony in February.

In a stage-managed election in March, Putin won another six-year term. In a subsequent Cabinet shakeup, Putin dismissed Prigozhin’s archfoe, Shoigu, as defense minister, replacing him with Andrei Belousov, an economics expert. Shoigu, who had personal ties with Putin, was given the high-profile post of secretary of Russia’s Security Council.

“If Shoigu’s new job had been too junior, it would have been humiliating, and could have triggered such criticism of the outgoing minister as to highlight the army’s weaknesses: something to be avoided in wartime,” Tatiana Stanovaya of the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center, said in a commentary.

At the same time, Shoigu's entourage faced purges. A longtime associate and deputy, Timur Ivanov, and several other senior military officers were arrested on corruption charges, and other senior Defense Ministry officials lost their jobs.

Gerasimov, the chief of the General Staff and another Prigozhin foe, has kept his job so far.

Gen. Sergei Surovikin, who reportedly had close ties with Prigozhin, was stripped of his post as deputy commander of forces in Ukraine and given a ceremonial position. Surovikin, credited with creating the multilayered defensive lines and fortifications that blunted Ukraine’s offensive a year ago, wasn’t dismissed altogether, and some observers suggest he could eventually be given a new military post.

FILE - A fighter of the Wagner private military force touches a sculpture of Russian mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin at his grave at the Porokhovskoye Cemetery in St. Petersburg, Russia, on Saturday, June 1, 2024. Prigozhin died in a suspicious air crash on Aug. 23, 2023, two months after launching a brief armed rebellion against the Russian military leadership. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky, File)

FILE - Russian President Vladimir Putin, center, talks with Gen. Valery Gerasimov, left, chief of the General Staff, and Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu after a meeting in Moscow, Russia, on Dec. 19, 2023. An armed uprising by mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin on June 23-24, 2023, against the military leadership dealt a blow to Putin’s authority. (Mikhail Klimentyev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP, File)

FILE - Pallbearers carry the coffin of Dmitry Utkin, who oversaw military operations of the Wagner Group, a private military contractor, during his funeral at Federal Military Memorial Cemetery in Mytishchy, Russia, on Aug. 31, 2023. Utkin died in a suspicious plane crash along with Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, who had launched a brief rebellion in June 2023, seeking to oust Russia’s military leadership. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, File)

FILE - A young woman lights a candle as others stand at a makeshift memorial near the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, on Aug. 29, 2023, for members of the Wagner Group military contractor killed in a plane crash. Among the 10 people killed in the crash was Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, who two months earlier had launched a brief rebellion against Russia’s military leadership. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, File)

FILE - Lights Illuminate debris of a private jet that crashed near the village of Kuzhenkino, Russia, on Aug. 24, 2023. The jet, flying from Moscow to St. Petersburg, was carrying Wagner Group head Yevgeny Prigozhin, who two months earlier launched a brief armed rebellion. Prigozhin and nine others aboard the jet were killed. (AP Photo, File)

FILE - In this image taken from video, smoke rises from the crash of a private jet near the village of Kuzhenkino, Russia, on Aug. 23, 2023. The jet, flying from Moscow to St. Petersburg, was carrying Wagner Group head Yevgeny Prigozhin, who two months earlier launched a brief armed rebellion. Prigozhin and nine others aboard the jet were killed. (AP Photo, File)

FILE - In this photo released by Belarus' Defense Ministry on July 20, 2023, Belarusian soldiers and mercenaries from Russia’s Wagner private military company pose for a photo amid maneuvers at a firing range near the border city of Brest, Belarus. On June 24, 2023, the private military company ended a brief rebellion against the Russian Defense Ministry that Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin accused of failing to supply his forces in Ukraine. (Belarus' Defense Ministry via AP, File)

FILE - Police guard an area near an office of the Wagner Group, a private military contractor, in St. Petersburg, Russia, on June 24, 2023. Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin launched a brief armed revolt against Russia's military leadership that posed the greatest challenge to President Vladimir Putin’s authority in his more than two decades in power. (AP Photo, File)

FILE – Mercenaries from the Wagner Group, a private military contractor, sit on a tank in Rostov-on-Don, Russia, on June 24, 2023, as residents pose for a photo near the headquarters of the Southern Military District. The private military company ended a brief rebellion against some officials in the Russian Defense Ministry whom Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin accused of not supplying his forces in Ukraine. (AP Photo, File)

FILE - Police officers stand next to their car in an empty Red Square with St. Basil's Cathedral in the background in Moscow, Russia, on June 28, 2023. Life has returned to normal in the capital after a brief armed rebellion by mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin on June 23-24, 2023. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, File)

FILE - Members of the Wagner Group private military contractor sit in vehicle in Rostov-on-Don, Russia, on June 24, 2023, as they prepare to leave an area at the headquarters of the Southern Military District. Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin launched a rebellion that sought the ouster of Defense Ministry officials that he accused of not supplying his forces fighting in Ukraine, but he later called it off. (AP Photo, File)

FILE - The top Russian military commander in Ukraine, Gen. Sergei Surovikin, left, and Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu attend a meeting at an unknown location on Dec. 17, 2022, with President Vladimir Putin during his visit to troops fighting in Ukraine. Surovikin, who reportedly had close ties with Russian mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, was stripped of his post as deputy commander of forces in Ukraine after the brief uprising by Prigozhin on June 23-24, 2023. (Gavriil Grigorov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP, File)

FILE - Russian President Vladimir Putin is seen on monitors in Moscow, Russia, on June 24, 2023, as he addresses the nation after a brief rebellion by mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin. The mercenary group had taken over a military headquarters in the southern city of Rostov-on-Don. Putin denounced the rebellion by his onetime protege as a "betrayal" and "treason." (Pavel Bednyakov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP, File)

ILE - Mercenaries of Russia's Wagner Group load a tank onto a truck in Rostov-on-Don, Russia, on June 24, 2023, following a brief rebellion led by Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin. He had accused Defense Ministry officials of denying support to his fighters in Ukraine. The troops had taken over Russia's southern military headquarters in Rostov-on-Don and headed for Moscow but aborted the rebellion, which still undermined Putin's image of power. Prigozhin was killed two months later in a mysterious plane crash. (Vasily Deryugin/Kommersant Publishing House via AP, File)

FILE - Wagner Group head Yevgeny Prigozhin attends the funeral at the Beloostrovskoye Cemetery outside St. Petersburg, Russia, on Dec. 24, 2022, of Dmitry Menshikov, one of his mercenaries who died fighting in Ukraine. Prigozhin made his name as the profane and brutal mercenary boss who in June 2023 mounted a brief armed rebellion that was the most serious challenge to the rule of Russian President Vladimir Putin. (AP Photo, File)

FILE - Businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin, left, serves a meal to Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, center, at a restaurant outside Moscow, Russia, on Nov. 11, 2011. Prigozhin, an ex-convict, owned a restaurant in St. Petersburg where the Russian leader took foreign leaders, earning him the nickname of "Putin's chef." He won lucrative catering contracts and later started a private military company. (AP Photo/Misha Japaridze, Pool, File)

FILE - Yevgeny Prigozhin, right, head of the Wagner private military contractor, poses for a photo with a civilian in Rostov-on-Don, Russia, on June 24, 2023. Prigozhin’s mercenary army had briefly seized a military headquarters in the city and started marching toward Moscow to oust the Defense Ministry's leaders, but then called it off. He had accused the Defense Ministry of starving his forces of ammunition in Ukraine. (AP Photo, File)

BEIRUT (AP) — Iran announced Saturday that a prominent general in its paramilitary Revolutionary Guard sanctioned by the U.S. died in an airstrike that killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut.

Abbas Nilforushan, 58, was killed Friday in Lebanon, Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency reported.

The U.S. Treasury had identified Nilforushan as the deputy commander for operations in the Guard. It sanctioned him in 2022 and said he had led an organization “directly in charge of protest suppression, which has played a critical role in arresting protest leaders during previous protests.” Those sanctions came amid the monthslong protests over the death of Mahsa Amini after her arrest for allegedly not wearing her headscarf, or hijab, to the liking of police.

Nilforushan also served in Syria backing President Bashar Assad in his country’s decades-long war that grew out of the 2011 Arab Spring that swept the wider Middle East. He served in the Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s like many of his colleagues.

In 2020, Iranian state television called him “comrade” of Gen. Qassem Soleimani, the head of its expeditionary Quds Force who was killed in 2020 U.S. drone attack in Baghdad. In 2021, Nilforushan told state TV that Israel was not in a capacity to pose a threat against Iran over what he described as Israel’s weakness.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.

BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanon’s Hezbollah group confirmed on Saturday that its leader and one of its founders, Hassan Nasrallah, was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut the previous day.

A statement said Nasrallah “has joined his fellow martyrs.” Hezbollah vowed to “continue the holy war against the enemy and in support of Palestine.”

Nasrallah, who led Hezbollah for more than three decades, is by far the most powerful target to be killed by Israel in weeks of intensified fighting with Hezbollah. The Israeli military said it carried out a precise airstrike on Friday while Hezbollah leadership were meeting at their headquarters in Dahiyeh, south of Beirut.

The Lebanese Health Ministry said six people were killed and 91 injured in the strikes, which leveled six apartment buildings. Ali Karki, the commander of Hezbollah’s Southern Front and other commanders were also killed, the Israeli military said.

Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani, an army spokesperson, said the airstrike was based on years of tracking Nasrallah along with “real time information” that made it viable. He declined to say what munitions were used in the strike or provide an estimate on civilian deaths, only saying that Israel takes measures to avoid civilians whenever possible and clears strikes ahead of time with intelligence and legal experts.

The Palestinian militant group Hamas in a statement issued condolences to its ally, Hezbollah. Nasrallah frequently described launching rockets against northern Israel as a “support front” for Hamas and Palestinians in Gaza.

“History has proven that the resistance ... whenever its leaders die as martyrs, will be succeeded on the same path by a generation of leaders who are more valiant, stronger and more determined to continue the confrontation,” the Hamas statement said.

It added that “assassinations will only increase the resistance in Lebanon and Palestine in determination and resolve.”

Immediately after the official confirmation from Hezbollah, people starting firing in the air in Beirut and other areas of the country, to mourn Nasrallah's death. Some were protesting that he was killed because of his support for the war in Gaza. “Wish it was our kids, not you, Sayyid!” said one woman, using an honorific title for Nasrallah, as she clutched her baby in the western city of Baabda.

Israel’s Chief of Staff, Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, said Saturday that the elimination of Nasrallah was “not the end of our toolbox,” indicating that more strikes were planned.

Israel has vowed to step up pressure on Hezbollah until it halts its attacks that have displaced tens of thousands of Israelis from communities near the Lebanese border. The recent fighting has also displaced more than 200,000 Lebanese in the past week, according to the United Nations.

The military said Saturday it was mobilizing additional reserve soldiers as tensions escalate with Lebanon, activating three battalions of reserve soldiers to serve across the country. It sent two brigades to northern Israel earlier in the week to train for a possible ground invasion.

Shoshani, the army spokesperson, said that Israel has inflicted heavy damage on Hezbollah’s capabilities over the past week by targeting a combination of immediate threats and strategic weapons, such as larger, guided missiles. But he said much of Hezbollah’s arsenal still remains intact and that Israel would continue to target the group. The Israeli military updated guidelines for Israeli citizens, canceling gatherings of more than 1,000 people due to the ongoing threat.

Approximately 60,000 Israelis have been evacuated from their homes along the Lebanese border for almost a year. Earlier this month, Israel's government said halting Hezbollah’s attacks in the country’s north to allow residents to return to their homes is an official war goal.

Iranian state television read the announcement from Hezbollah confirming Nasrallah's death live, but there was no other immediate comment. Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in a Saturday message said "the resistance movement, heading by Hezbollah, will decide the fate of the region,” in a statement read on state TV.

Iran is the main supporter of Lebanese Hezbollah and other militant groups in the region.

Also on Saturday, Iran’s influential parliamentary committee of national security demanded “strong” response to Israel following a meeting of the committee. State TV also said people staged anti-Israeli rallies in support of Hezbollah in major cities and town across the country.

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani of declared a three-day period of mourning in his country. Sudani came to power with the backing of a coalition of Iran-backed political factions, many of which have armed wings that are allied with Hezbollah.

Hezbollah started firing rockets on Israel in support of Gaza on Oct. 8, a day after Hamas militants launched an unprecedented attack on Israel, killing some 1,200 people and abducting another 250. Since then, the two sides have been engaged in cross-border strikes that have gradually escalated and displaced tens of thousands of civilians on both sides of the border.

Hostilities escalated dramatically last week when thousands of explosives hidden in pagers and walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah detonated, killing dozens of people and leaving thousands, including many civilians, with severe injuries to the eyes, face and limbs. Israel is widely believed to be behind the attack. Israel has also killed several top Hezbollah commanders in Beirut, especially in the past two weeks, in addition to the attack that killed Nasrallah.

Orna Mizrahi, a senior researcher at the Tel Aviv-based think tank Institute for National Security Studies and former intelligence analyst for the Israeli military and prime minister’s office, noted that Nasrallah was sometimes a “voice of reason,” interested in engaging Israel in a war of attrition and holding the militant group back from using the full force of their formidable arsenal against Israel.

Nasrallah's death could prompt some less senior members of Hezbollah to unleash much stronger weapons than have been used in the nearly yearlong exchange of hostilities between Hezbollah and Lebanon, she said. The biggest question mark right now, though, is how Iran will respond, said Mizrahi.

She added that Nasrallah's death could provide a window of opportunity, while the organization is significantly weakened, for Lebanon to dilute Hezbollah’s far-reaching influence, especially in the south, that threatens to drag Lebanon into a full-scale war with Israel.

On Saturday morning, the Israeli military carried out more than 140 airstrikes in southern Beirut and eastern Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley, including targeting a storage facility for anti-ship missiles in Beirut suburb of Dahiyeh. Israel said the missiles were stored underground beneath civilian apartment buildings. Hezbollah launched dozens of projectiles across northern and central Israel and deep into the Israel-occupied West Bank, damaging some buildings in the northern town of Safed.

In Beirut’s southern suburbs, smoke rose and the streets were empty after the area was pummeled overnight by heavy Israeli airstrikes. Shelters set up in the city center for displaced people were overflowing. Many families slept in public squares and beaches or in their cars. On the roads leading to the mountains above the capital, hundreds of people could be seen making an exodus on foot, holding infants and whatever belongings they could carry.

At least 720 people have been killed in Lebanon over the past week by Israeli airstrikes, according to the Health Ministry.

Mroue reported from Beirut. Abby Sewell in Beirut; Lujain Jo in Baabda, Lebanon; Nasser Karimi in Tehran; and Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, contributed.

Children with their families lie on the ground in Beirut's Martyrs' square after fleeing the Israeli airstrikes in Beirut's southern suburbs, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

Smoke rises at the site of Israeli airstrikes in Beirut's southern suburbs, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

People check a damaged building at the site of an Israeli airstrike in Choueifat, south east of Beirut, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Smoke rises as a building collapses in Beirut's southern suburbs, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Families gather in Martyrs' square after fleeing the Israeli airstrikes in Beirut's southern suburbs, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

FILE - In this Oct. 24, 2015 file photo, Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah addresses a crowd during the holy day of Ashoura, in a southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar, File)

Israeli soldiers work on tanks in northern Israel on Friday, Sept. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Baz Ratner)

Smoke rises from Israeli airstrikes in Beirut's southern suburbs, Lebanon, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Smoke and fire rise following an Israeli airstrikes in Beirut's southern suburbs, Lebanon, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Rescuers arrive near the site of an Israeli airstrike in Beirut's southern suburbs, Friday, Sept. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Rescuers arrive near the site of an Israeli airstrike in Beirut's southern suburbs, Friday, Sept. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

A wounded man sits in an ambulance at the site of an Israeli airstrike in Beirut's southern suburbs, Friday, Sept. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Smoke rises from an Israeli airstrike in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Lebanese citizens watch smoke rise from Israeli airstrikes in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Flames rise after an Israeli airstrike in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Rescuers gather as smoke rises from a collapsed building at the site of an Israeli airstrike in Beirut's southern suburbs, Friday, Sept. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Smoke rises from Israeli airstrikes in Beirut's southern suburbs, Lebanon, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

An Israeli soldier carries a shell next to a tank in northern Israel on Friday, Sept. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Baz Ratner)