The group’s fighters roamed the southern Russian city of Voronezh “eating shawarma” on Monday – hours before Russian President Vladimir Putin appeared to describe the rebellion by Wagner’s mercenaries as a coup and treason. Newspaper. Financial Times.
In addition, Yevgeny Prigozhin, the leader of the mercenary group, accused the Russian Defense Ministry in exile in Belarus of targeting his group.
Analysts tell Al-Hura that Putin appears to be weak, but what has happened to correct the mistakes in his rule.
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In a brief speech, Putin again accused Wagner, without naming him, of “betraying his country and people” and “lying” to his fighters.
According to the Financial Times, there are still treason charges against the mercenary leader, which gives the regime “an opportunity for future prosecution”, Richard Weitz, a fellow professor at the US’s Hudson Institute, tells Al-Hurra.
The move by Prigozhin and his militia has greatly weakened the regime, but Weitz says the Kremlin could benefit from the uprising because it “highlighted weaknesses” in the Russian administrative structure.
Prigozhin was a staunch ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, and his forces contributed to supporting Russian military action in Ukraine, after he launched public criticism against the Kremlin and military leaders over the way the war was being waged.
After they took control of military command centers in the southern city of Rostov, thousands of Wagner fighters marched on Moscow, but retreated about 200 miles from the capital.
After mediation by Putin’s ally Alexander Lukashenko, Prigozhin moved to Belarus to keep calm.
Prigozhin said on Monday that his forces’ advances had “exposed serious problems” in Russia’s defense system.
According to Professor Weitz, “the Russian defense minister and chief of staff could be in trouble” because of the coup.
“Putin has held officials accountable, but he will not fire them now, so that the dismissal will not be considered a submission to Prigozhin,” Weitz said.
He added that “Putin was upset about the military’s declining popularity after seeing the public cheer for Prigozhin, not him.”
In a speech on Monday, Putin gave Wagner fighters three options: to volunteer for the Russian Defense Ministry, return to their homes or go to Belarus.
British newspaper The Telegraph quoted security chiefs as saying that Russian intelligence had threatened the families of leaders of the “Wagner” group not to continue marching towards Moscow before the group’s leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin, announced his withdrawal.
The Financial Times says the ceasefire is still in limbo, with questions growing in Russia over whether the deal will go through.
The Kremlin seized billions of rubles in cash and gold bars from Prigozhin, straining Wagner financially, but staunch loyalists of President Vladimir Putin are proposing some tough solutions.
Andrei Gorolyov, a prominent Russian pro-war deputy, said he was “determined to shoot traitors in wartime”.
“No matter what wonderful stories they tell you, the only way out for Prigozhin is a bullet to the head,” he added, according to the Financial Times.
Despite the Kremlin’s initial promises to drop the criminal case against Prigozhin, state news agencies cited sources as saying he was still under investigation for organizing the rebellion.
It is not yet known how Prigozhin will act in relation to the options given to his fighters and his case.
According to Anna Pushevskaya, a Russia researcher at The Washington Institute, it’s too early to know the full ramifications of Prigozhin and his team’s rebellion, but she notes that “Putin, the Defense Department, Prigozhin and Wagner all came out weak.”
Boshevskaya told Al-Hurra, “The only winner from what happened was the Russian Security Service, which seemed to be the only effective institution in Russia, and the authorities now feel a growing need for it.”
And Pushevskaya asked, “How was Prigozhin able to advance so far toward Moscow without being stopped? And why were he and his men spared?” states that such questions are not answered. All of them show the Russian system differently than those who see Putin as an Iron Man might expect.
The Financial Times said that Wagner’s operations in Russia had not completely subsided, despite promises to return to its camps in Ukraine. According to the newspaper, several Wagner hotlines were still operating across Russia.
The newspaper contacted the lines on Monday and said it was still recruiting new fighters.
But Pushevskaya says it is almost certain that Wagner’s participation in the fighting in Ukraine, in its current form, is over.
Inner funnel
According to the Financial Times, the rebellion called for Wagner to be brought under firm government control. On Monday, senior lawmakers said Wagner would be barred from recruiting from prisons, depriving it of large human resources that have been one of its main bases.
The newspaper quoted analysts as saying that an “internal crackdown” targeting supporters of Prigozhin and his group was expected to erupt at any time in the country.
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