  We develop a sieve that can detect primes in multiplicatively structured sets
under certain conditions. We apply it to obtain a new $L$-function free proof
of Linnik's problem of bounding the least prime $p$ such that $p\equiv a\pmod
q$ (with the bound $p \ll q^{350}$) as well as a new $L$-function free proof
that the interval $(x-x^{39/40}, x]$ contains primes for every large $x$. In a
future work we will develop the sieve further and provide more applications.
