This weekend was all about 24-hour chaos in Russia. The advance of the Wagner Group towards Moscow, the advance and the shady agreement with Belarus. It is not yet confirmed where exactly Wagner Prigozhin’s boss is, but he broke his silence before Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Among other things, Prigozhin explained why the Wagner Group started an uprising: It was in response to Russia’s plans to place the private army under the authority of the top Russian military and to abolish it on July 1. But he doesn’t say anything new, he knows the historian and connoisseur of Russia Hubert Smeets. “He always said it wasn’t a coup,” he says. “In his Telegram posts last Friday, he reiterated over and over that it was a march for justice.”
According to Smeets, Prigozhin was therefore primarily concerned with putting Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoygu and Russian Supreme Commander Valeri Gerasimov in their places. “He wanted to see him replaced,” continues Smeets. “After that, he expected presidential power to work as usual.”
Failed?
However, both Gerasimov and Shoigu are still in their positions. But Smeets is still not talking about bankruptcy. “The only new thing he said was that it would have been better if Wagner had marched on Kiev at the beginning of the war, because they met no resistance on the march to Moscow.”
Prigozhin himself said that the Wagner group stopped the march itself, which Putin could not have done on his own. Instead, Belarusian President and Putin ally Alexander Lukashenko stepped in and mediated. And that wasn’t a smart move, Smeets thinks. “I see it as an emergency measure, showing helplessness,” he continues. “So far we know only thanks to Lukashenko that he has played this important role. He didn’t waste a second announcing it to the world.”
Lavrov
And there’s a grain of truth in that, thinks Smeets. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov also said today that Lukashenko called Putin on his own initiative with the message that it should not lead to bloodshed. “That man never says anything himself and he has sub-zero creativity, so we have to take him seriously,” concludes Smeets. “Putin gratefully accepted that offer.”
And this is remarkable, says Smeets, who calls it a weakness on Putin’s part. “He used his subordinate he, the little man he played like a puppet, to solve a problem that occurred in Russia, of all places.”
Source: BNR
Sharon Rock is an author and journalist who writes for 24 News Globe. She has a passion for learning about different cultures and understanding the complexities of the world. With a talent for explaining complex global issues in an accessible and engaging way, Sharon has become a respected voice in the field of world news journalism.
