Does ‘Putin’s chef’ have an interest in the Chathams?

A Russian oligarch and the boss of the Wagner private military company appears to have an interest in the Chatham Islands.

Known as ‘‘Putin’s chef’’ because his businesses provide catering to the Kremlin, Yevgeny Prigozhin is also the head of mercenary military company Wagner Group, which was employed by Russia to invade Crimea in 2014 and fight in the Syrian civil war, and was part of the 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

New Zealand has sanctioned the Wagner entity, as well as Prigozhin and other individual leaders in the group.

Wagner recently conquered the city of Bakhmut, upon which Prigozhin admitted that 20,000 of his men, many of them drawn from Russian prisons, had died.

Following the victory, he was interviewed in an office where he gave his thoughts on the war. A world map on the wall behind him was marked with pins, showing where Wagner had interests and operations.

Most of the pins are in Africa, where Wagner has been active in combat, security, disinformation campaigns and business interests, according to the Council of Foreign Relations.

However, there is also a pin in the Chatham Islands.

The map is marked with different-coloured pins. There are red pins where Wagner is in combat operations. The white pins are in Harare, Antananarivo, Douala and the Chathams, where they appear to show some other type of interest.

Stuff has found evidence of Wagner having some kind of business interest in the white pin locations.

Dr Yuiry Sak, an adviser to Ukraine’s Ministry of Defence, said he didn’t know what Wagner’s interests were in the Chathams.

‘‘But whatever it is – it is nothing good,’’ Sak told Stuff.

‘‘If he is in NZ, the authorities should detain him.’’

The mayor of the Chathams, Monique Croon, said she was not aware of any ‘‘Russian connections or any Russian money being on the Chatham Islands’’.

Stuff asked whether Croon was worried by the situation or whether she would investigate. However, the mayor said she did not want to comment further and was going to refer to her council’s chief executive.

A spokesperson for Defence Minister Andrew Little said the Defence Force had advised that ‘‘they are not aware of any activities or operations by the Wagner Group in New Zealand’’.

Security expert Paul Buchanan said it was strange if Wagner was setting up operations in the Chathams.

‘‘A Wagner presence in the Chathams would set off alarm bells in many capitals, not just Wellington,’’ he said.

Buchanan said that if Wagner did have interests in the Chathams, it could be for logistics purposes.

Another theory expressed online was that the pin placement was incorrect, and was instead meant for the Cook Islands.

The Cooks sell the use of their flag to people willing to pay for it, as a way of generating money for the small dependency.

Their flag has been used by other private military companies, including by one called Moran

Security, which used the Cooks flag on boats transporting weapons in 2012.

In October, Prigozhin launched a racist and homophobic attack on Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta, saying her moko kauae made her look like a ‘‘criminal’’.

The Russian embassy said it didn’t know what the pin referred to, and that Wagner would need to be approached for comment. Wagner has been approached for comment.