Wagner’s boss, Yevgeny Prigozhin, assured in an audio message on Monday, two days after his failed rebellion, that he wanted to save his organization, not seize power, and that his attempt brought to light the “serious problems security” in Russia.
The Russian authorities, for their part, endeavored during the day to give an image of normality in the country despite this serious blow in the space of 24 hours to the image of Vladimir Putin, in the midst of the Ukrainian counter-offensive on forehead.
In his first audio message released after his revolt was abandoned, Prigozhin did not reveal his whereabouts, while the agreement reached on Saturday evening with the Kremlin through Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko provides that he s exile in Belarus.
“The purpose of the march was not to allow the destruction of the Wagner Group and to hold accountable those who through their unprofessional actions committed a considerable number of errors during the special military operation” in Ukraine, he said. he said in this 11-minute message.
According to him, his men’s march towards Moscow “brought to light serious security problems in the country”, as they were able to seize the army headquarters in Rostov-on-Don without much resistance. and several other military sites, covering 780 kilometers before stopping “just over 200 km from Moscow”.
If Wagner’s boss did not go further, it was because he did not want to “shed Russian blood” or “overthrow power”. He also assured that he had the support of the civilians he met during his epic.
Apparent normality
He repeated that Wagner shot down Russian Air Force aircraft, which Moscow has not confirmed. Military bloggers reported six helicopters and a transport plane destroyed.
Prigozhin has for months accused Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chief of Staff Valeri Gerasimov of being incompetent and of having sent tens of thousands of soldiers to sacrifice.
According to him, the Ministry of Defense tried to dismantle Wagner by absorbing him, then bombed one of his camps, killing thirty. An accusation denied by the Russian army.
On Monday, for the first time after the end of the revolt, the Russian president appeared in a video in which he addresses a forum dedicated to youth and industry.
He said nothing about the mutiny and it was not possible to determine where and when these pre-recorded images were shot.
According to the Kremlin, he also spoke with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and the Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, who both expressed their “support” for the Russian leader following the armed rebellion.
Mr. Putin has not spoken publicly about the rebellion since his televised address on Saturday, in the midst of the crisis, in which he accused Mr. Prigozhin of treason.
Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, who had disappeared during the rebellion of the boss of Wagner, his pet peeve, reappeared on Monday in a video inspecting forces engaged in Ukraine. Again, it was not possible to determine when these images were filmed.
The Wagner group also assured that its headquarters in Saint Petersburg (northwest) was operating “normally”, while Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov noted that the paramilitaries were going to continue their operations in Mali and in the Central African Republic.
The organization has also resumed its recruitment in certain regions of Russia, according to the TASS agency.
Another sign of this effort to return to normal, the authorities announced the end of the “anti-terrorist operation regime” in the Moscow region and that of Voronezh, south of the capital.
“Big blow” for Putin
Prigojine, a businessman who was an ally of Putin in charge of many of Moscow’s dirty tricks, ended his rebellion on Saturday evening, in exchange for immunity promised by the Kremlin for him and his men.
But on Monday, Russian news agencies all announced that the criminal investigation against him for “calling for armed mutiny” was still ongoing.
If the coup ended as suddenly as it began, this crisis represents the greatest challenge that Vladimir Putin has faced since he came to power in late 1999.
Scrutinized in all the chancelleries, this crisis “reveals real cracks” at the highest level of the Russian state, said Sunday the American Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
Wagner’s mutiny shows that the assault on Ukraine was a “strategic error”, NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg added on Monday.
“Putin and the state have received a big blow that will have significant consequences for the regime,” said independent Russian analyst Tatiana Stanovaya.
Many analysts believe that the crisis in Russia could weaken Russian forces on the ground and benefit those in kyiv, which have been leading a difficult counter-offensive for several weeks.
On Monday, Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Ganna Maliar announced further modest progress, the Ukrainian army having nibbling 17 km of additional ground against Moscow’s forces, or 130 km2 since the beginning of June. She said that the locality of Rivnopil, on the southern front, in the Donetsk region, had been taken over.