The interview was taped on the 21st, but it was no coincidence that the Kremlin decided it would be the president’s first message to be broadcast on state television after the Wagner Group uprising left the country in uncertainty for 24 hours on Saturday. deposited. Yesterday, Putin appeared on the screens, guaranteeing that he had “the main focus on the special military operation” in Ukraine, as he refers to the war that began on February 24, 2022, when he invaded the neighboring country. “My day begins and ends by thinking about it,” he said, trying to focus attention on the conflict in Ukraine away from what US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called “a direct challenge to authority” of the Russian president, caused by Yevgeny Prigozhin’s men who created “real rifts” in the Russian leadership.
In an interview on CBS’s Meet the Press, Blinken explained that the uprising of the men of the Wagner Group – who threatened to overthrow the Russian military leadership and advanced up to 200 km from Moscow before returning after an agreement between the Belarusian president and Prigozhin – revealed “further cracks in the Russian facade”. For the head of US diplomacy, the mutiny may be under control and Prigozhin has apparently accepted exile in Belarus, but Putin “will have many questions to answer in the coming weeks and months”.
Forced to threaten the rebels with exemplary “punishments” on the same day and agree hours later to drop all charges of treason and incitement to military rebellion against them in exchange for Prigozhin’s exile and his men’s acceptance to to join the regular Russian army. has emerged in the most vulnerable position we have seen him in in his 23 years in power. Without his whereabouts being known yesterday, the Russian president reaffirmed his confidence in the course of the war in Ukraine. But there are those who fear that the Kremlin tenant may now choose to escalate the conflict to prove that it remains in control.
Despite the vast majority remaining silent on what he described as an internal Russian issue, the international community nonetheless had a taste of what an alternative to Putin could be. And many breathed a sigh of relief when Prigozhin ordered his men back to base.
One of the biggest fears is that Russia’s military arsenal – the largest in the world with nearly 7,000 nuclear warheads, slightly more than the US – will fall into the wrong hands. On the day that it became known that the US authorities had indicated a few days ago that Prigozhin was preparing a mutiny, Blinken admitted that “when we are dealing with a great power, especially a nuclear power, that is a worrying thing”, and promised that the Americana administration will be “very considerate.”
A day after Prigozhin’s uprising yesterday, there were more questions than answers on several fronts. The impact it could have on the war in Ukraine is one of them. Not knowing what will be the future of the Wagner Group, a private army that has been essential in defending Russian interests in international arenas ranging from Syria to Mali and, of course, through Ukraine – if it disappears or simply falls out of sight of Prigozhin – one of the experts’ hypotheses was that if the mercenaries follow their leader, they can launch attacks against Ukraine from Belarus. A scenario that also worries NATO, especially its three members bordering Belarus: Latvia, Lithuania and Poland.
In Kiev, this uprising was received as an opportunity to regain Russian-occupied territories, and even dreamed of a civil war in the neighboring country that would force it to end the Ukrainian conflict, which did not come true. Mikhail Podoliak, the chief adviser to President Volodymyr Zelensky, assured yesterday that Prigozhin “humiliated” Putin, but said he was convinced that the Russian president will “eliminate” the former ally who challenged him. nickname “chief from Putin” because of his closeness to the president gained from catering to the Kremlin, Prigozhin had spent months fiercely criticizing the Russian military leadership, blaming the deaths of his men for not giving him arms and ammunition. had provided.
On the ground, the departure of the Wagner group, responsible for the largest Russian advance in Ukraine, was taken advantage of by Kiev’s forces, which also benefited from the Chechen soldiers present on the scene, after crossing the border to try the Wagner group. Both were due to return to their bases yesterday, but if a weakened Putin can be a more dangerous and fierce Putin, the feeling in Kiev was one of optimism, with the same Podolak underlining that “the situation in Russia is uncontrollable”, adding: “New wind gusts are expected”.
Another big unknown is where Prigozhin will be and what he will do next. Group leader Wagner did not return to life after ordering his men to return to base. Few believe that the man who did the Kremlin’s dirty work for years will disappear. And the truth is that he himself never said that he accepted exile in Belarus. What is certain is that if Prigozhin cannot sleep well after openly challenging Putin, the Russian president will have to prove he can close the “cracks” Putin has created in his authority.
Source: DN
