Comment on this storyComment
RIGA, Latvia — Russia’s embattled leadership tried to demonstrate control on Monday after the brutal, chaotic mutiny of Yevgeny Prigozhin and his Wagner mercenary group by broadcasting video of Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu visiting a command post, while the Kremlin released video of a recorded speech published by President Vladimir Putin to young engineers.
It was not clear when Putin’s video address was recorded, so the question of his whereabouts is still circulating as Russians grapple with the aftermath of the crisis. Other key figures in the crisis remained hidden.
The exact whereabouts of Shoigu and the time of publication of the video published by the Ministry of Defense were also unclear. Russian media reported that it was pre-taped, probably on the Friday before the Wagner uprising.
When the state of emergency was lifted in the Russian capital, Russians needed to understand how Putin backed away from his threat of tougher action against what he called “treason” and what that might mean in the short term, particularly for the US’s ongoing war in Ukraine and in the longer term for stability in the country and for Putin’s political future.
State media, meanwhile, reported on Monday that charges against Prigozhin for insurgency have not yet been dropped. The Kremlin had announced on Saturday that the charges would be dropped as part of the deal in which Prigozhin agreed to halt his military advance on Moscow and leave Russia for Belarus.
Prigozhin has not resurfaced since he left the southern city of Rostov-on-Don on Saturday amid cheers and calls for support. His press service said he would continue to answer media questions once his communications were back to normal.
The mercenary boss warned of a revolution in Russia, but his own was short-lived
There are also questions about the whereabouts of his paramilitary group and its future, whether Belarusian authorities would accept a small private army on their territory, or whether the militia could reappear in Africa, where it acted as a state proxy with security treaties and other ties to some governments.
Putin was spotted during his emergency address to the nation on Saturday during the crisis, but there has been speculation he may have left Moscow for one of his residences north-west of the capital after two planes from Putin’s deployed Russian Special Fleet crashed that day had left town.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the president was working “in the Kremlin” and the two planes returned to Moscow on Sunday evening, Russia’s Agentstvo news agency reported.
Russian media coverage showed how deeply events have shaken Putin’s authoritarian state, built on his power as supreme leader with easily expendable rule of law and competing fiefdoms – including oligarchs and officials – who constantly compete for the president’s favor, state benefits, etc. affect wrestling.
An opinion column in the Russian newspaper Moskovsky Komsomolets said the “worst possible scenario” – fighting on the streets of Moscow and elsewhere and a split in the Russian military and security forces – had been averted.
“Russia has shown its vulnerability to the whole world and to itself. “Russia plunged into the abyss at full speed and retreated from it at the same speed,” wrote columnist Mikhail Rostovsky, under the headline, “Prigozhin Leaves, Problems Remain: Profound Political Consequences of Failed Coup Attempt.”
Wagner uprising anticipates Putin’s rule
However, there have been signs of a possible crackdown on Russian private military companies, and there have been widespread calls for them to be brought under control, even though they are already technically illegal in Russia. A major reason for Wagner’s mutiny was Prigozhin’s refusal to sign Defense Ministry treaties that would have sidelined the militia and placed them under Shoigu’s authority.
Andrei Kartapolov, chairman of the defense committee in the State Duma, the lower house of Russia’s parliament, told the Vedomosti newspaper there was no reason to ban Wagner, calling it the most combative unit in Russia. Kartapolov said Wagner fighters could continue to serve in the war in Ukraine if they signed contracts with the military. Such a path could be uncomfortable for many Wagner fighters, who are extremely loyal to Prigozhin.
Another newspaper, Nezavisimaya Gazeta, in an article published on Sunday, called for the disarmament of all armed formations that are not officially part of the security structures, given “today’s political reality”.
“The events of June 24 will undoubtedly have long-term consequences for the country. It became clear that a man with a gun, unless he is a state official, poses a real threat to the state and statehood,” the newspaper’s editor Konstantin Remchukov wrote in an opinion column. “There should be no armed people in Russia who are primarily loyal to their commander and only secondarily to someone else.”
Give this item as a gift
Understanding the Russia-Ukraine conflict
Check out 3 more stories