Russian defence minister makes 1st public appearance since aborted mercenary revolt | CBC News
Uncertainty still swirled in Russia on Monday about the fate of rebellion leader Yevgeny Prigozhin and his private army, the impact on the war in Ukraine and even the political future of President Vladimir Putin.
In Ukraine, Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu made his first public appearance since the Prigozhin-led uprising, inspecting troops there on Monday in a video released by his ministry.
The Defence Ministry video of Shoigu came as Russian media speculated that he and other military leaders have lost Putin’s confidence and could be replaced.
A feud between Wagner Group leader Prigozhin and Russia’s military brass that has festered throughout the war erupted into a mutiny that saw the mercenaries leave Ukraine to seize a military headquarters in a southern Russian city and march seemingly unopposed for hundreds of miles toward Moscow, before turning around after less than 24 hours on Saturday.
The mutiny marked the biggest challenge to Putin in more than 20 years of rule.
The Wagner Group was cheered as they left Rostov-on-Don, Russia, after a deal was struck to end their attempt to overthrow President Vladimir Putin. The mercenary group’s leader was said to be exiled to Belarus as Western leaders await a military response from Putin.
Putin held calls Monday with the leaders of Iran and Qatar, the Kremlin said, and addressed a forum of youth engineers in a pre-recorded video message that contained no mention of the mutiny.
The Kremlin said it had made a deal that Prigozhin will move to Belarus and receive an amnesty, along with his soldiers. There was no confirmation of his whereabouts Monday, although a popular Russian news channel on Telegram reported he was seen at a hotel in the Belarusian capital, Minsk.
Protection in Belarus unclear
The RIA Novosti state news agency cited unidentified sources in the Prosecutor General’s office as saying the criminal case against Prigozhin hasn’t been closed, despite earlier Kremlin statements. The Interfax news agency carried a similar report.
Should the case continue, Prigozhin’s presence in Belarus — a staunch Kremlin ally — would offer little protection against arrest and extradition. It was unclear what resources Prigozhin has to draw on, and how much of his substantial wealth he can access.
Yevgeny Prigozhin was one of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s top allies, until he led what’s described as an attempted mutiny. CBC’s David Common breaks down how Prigozhin went from being one of Putin’s biggest allies to a public adversary.
Police searching his St. Petersburg office on the day of the rebellion found 4 billion rubles ($62.3 million Cdn) in trucks outside the building, according to Russian media reports confirmed by the Wagner boss. He claimed the money was intended to pay soldiers’ families.
Andrei Gurulev, a retired general and currently a lawmaker who had a rift with the mercenary leader, said Prigozhin and his right-hand man Dmitry Utkin, a former military officer who runs Wagner, deserve “a bullet in the head.”
“I firmly believe that traitors in wartime must be executed,” he said.
Military leaders look to maintain Putin’s confidence
Shoigu was shown in a helicopter and then meeting with officers at a military headquarters in Ukraine. The video was widely broadcast on Russian media, including state-controlled television. It was unclear when it was shot.
General Staff chief Gen. Valery Gerasimov, also a main target of Prigozhin’s ire, has not appeared in public.
Before starting the revolt, Prigozhin had blasted Shoigu and Gerasimov with expletive-ridden insults for months, attacking them for failing to provide his troops with enough ammunition during the battle for Bakhmut, the longest and bloodiest battle of Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Putin stood back from the rift, and Shoigu and Gerasimov remained mum, possibly reflecting uncertainty about Putin’s support. Observers said that by failing to end the feud Putin had encouraged Prigozhin to dramatically up the stakes.
Asked by reporters Saturday whether Putin still trusts Shoigu, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov responded he wasn’t aware of any changes in the president’s attitude.
Helicopters and plane reportedly shot down
It was not yet clear what the fissures opened by the 24-hour rebellion would mean for the war in Ukraine. But it resulted in some of the best forces fighting for Russia being pulled from the battlefield: the Wagner troops, who had shown their effectiveness in scoring the Kremlin’s only land victory in months, in Bakhmut, and Chechen soldiers sent to stop them on the approach to Moscow.
The Wagner forces’ largely unopposed, rapid advance also exposed vulnerabilities in Russia’s security and military forces. The mercenary soldiers were reported to have downed several helicopters and a military communications plane. The Defence Ministry has not commented.
Western officials have been muted in their public comments.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken described the weekend’s events as “extraordinary,” recalling that 16 months ago Putin appeared poised to seize the capital of Ukraine.
“I think we’ve seen more cracks emerge in the Russian façade,” Blinken said on NBC’s Meet the Press.
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, speaking to reporters before chairing a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg, said that “the monster that Putin created with Wagner, the monster is biting him now.”
“The political system is showing fragilities, and the military power is cracking,” said Borrell.
But some analysts saw Prigozhin’s revolt as a desperate move to save Wagner from being dismantled after an order that all private military companies sign contracts with the Defence Ministry by July 1.
Russian political analyst Tatiana Stanovaya said Prigozhin’s mutiny “wasn’t a bid for power or an attempt to overtake the Kremlin,” but a desperate move amid his escalating rift with Russia’s military leadership.
“Prigozhin was forced out of Ukraine and found himself unable to sustain Wagner the way he did before, while the state machinery was turning against him,” she wrote in a commentary on Twitter.
In a return to at least superficial normality, Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin announced an end to the “counterterrorism regime” imposed on the capital Saturday, when troops and armoured vehicles set up checkpoints on the outskirts and authorities tore up roads leading into the city.
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