The militiamen of the paramilitary group Wagner began to leave their positions in Russia, on the orders of their leader Yevgeny Prigojine. He did an about-face after having frontally challenged the authority of Vladimir Putin.
“The only conclusion is that the Putin regime is weak”said Saturday June 25 on franceinfo Olga Prokopieva, the spokeswoman for Russia-Freedoms, an NGO for the defense of human rights and freedoms in Russia based in France. The day was marked by the offensive of the Wagner militia towards Moscow and then its withdrawal. Spokesperson dismisses Vladimir Putin and Yevgeny Prigojine back to back,“war criminals”. For Olga Prokopieva, this “clan war will cause trouble”. She assures him as long as Vladimir Putin’s regime exists, “there will always be disorder and war in Europe”.
franceinfo: What conclusions can we draw from this day with this advance and then this withdrawal in Russia of the Wagner forces?
Olga Prokopieva: The only certain conclusion is that the Putin regime is weak, that the criminals are eating each other up. Both: Putin and Prigozhin. They are war criminals and they must not continue to lead this country which will gain stability only when they leave. Surely there are arrangements between them, but in no case should any statement be trusted. It’s still very worrying. We must absolutely continue to help Ukraine as much as we can as much as France and the international community can to win and to liberate its territory. We also have a thought today for all the democratic Russian opposition which opposes the war, which is a prisoner.
Precisely the weakening of Vladimir Putin that you mention, is it good news for all his opponents?
Of course it’s good news, this clan war will cause trouble and we’ll see how it will evolve. In any case, we must continue the actions that have been taken so far, increase aid to Ukraine and the Russian democratic political opposition in exile and demand the release of Russian political prisoners. It is only through this, and not through violent resistance, that Russia can truly transform itself. If tomorrow another clan comes to take power by arms, it will not let go of this power and will reign by arms. That’s the danger.
We talk a lot about Belarus since the start of this conflict in February 2022. Moscow said this Saturday evening grateful to Lukashenko, the Belarusian president, for his role as mediator. How do you view this role?
I have my doubts about his real role and maybe he was used by Putin instead. If he had negotiated directly with Prigozhin, he would have lost face a bit. He needed to pretend with mediation. It’s once again criminal regimes, which are unpredictable, which are dangerous. Above all, we must not bet on any appeasement as long as this Putinian regime which created Prigojine, which created Wagner and nourishes it, develops it. As long as this regime exists, there will always be disorder and war in Europe.