<
https://theconversation.com/wagners-rebellion-may-have-been-thwarted-but-putin-has-never-looked-weaker-and-more-vulnerable-208436>
"It is increasingly clear that a rattled Vladimir Putin’s political end is
approaching. All that really matters now is whether it comes sooner or later.
Having appeared on national television to warn of a coup attempt by traitors –
and an impending civil war – Putin abruptly reversed his position only a couple
of hours later. The Kremlin announced that Yevgeny Prigozhin, the chief
protagonist, would go into exile in Belarus and all charges against him had
been dropped.
It’s little wonder that Prigozhin, the one-time hot dog vendor who rose through
the ranks of Putin’s patronage to head up the infamous Wagner Group, was at the
centre of the political maelstrom.
Chafing for weeks at the requirement for Wagner fighters to integrate into the
Russian armed forces, Prigozhin became enraged when a Wagner base was attacked
by Russia’s military.
His response was nothing short of extraordinary: to drive a convoy into Russia,
swearing to confront Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and Russia’s chief of the
general staff, Valery Gerasimov.
After seizing the Southern Military District headquarters at Rostov-on-Don,
Prigozhin announced his intention to continue on to Moscow. Once the convoy
reached Voronezh, having covered half the distance to the capital largely
unmolested, Putin took to the airwaves to vow that anyone who stabbed Russia in
the back would be liquidated.
Amazingly, the Wagner Telegram channel responded by saying Putin was mistaken
and there would be a new Russian president soon. Wagner’s convoy rolled north
until it was only a couple of hours’ drive from the Kremlin itself.
And then everything suddenly stopped. The Kremlin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov,
announced a compromise had been brokered by the Belarusian President Alexander
Lukashenko. Prigozhin would receive safe passage to Minsk, where he would
apparently retain control over Wagner’s extensive operations in Africa. Wagner
fighters would not be charged with treason and they would be integrated into
the Russian military. As for Shoigu and Gerasimov, nobody seemed to know."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
