- Yevgeny Prigozhin, the chief of the Wagner mercenary group, has left the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don with his soldiers.
- The group’s departure follows a deal brokered by Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko under which Prigozhin and his mercenary soldiers will avoid prosecution, and Prigozhin will go into exile in Belarus.
‘The Tsar has taken a hit’: Wagner mutiny undermines Putin
GZERO Media, which is part of political risk consultancy Eurasia Group, says that Putin’s supporters and critics will find plenty to ponder in the short-lived Wagner rebellion, and the Kremlin’s response.
“No matter how you slice it, the Tsar has taken a hit here,” wrote Russia specialist Alex Kliment.
“One of his own men, and a reasonably well-known figure in Russia, led an ‘armed rebellion’ that practically cakewalked to the capital. Putin was clearly reluctant to use force to quash the threat on the spot – perhaps he was wary of turning a populist ultranationalist like Prigozhin into a martyr – and he had to call in Alexander Lukashenko to sort it out. It’s hard to see how any of that leaves Putin looking stronger, more competent, or more secure than he did on Thursday evening.”
Kliment also includes a reminder that Wagner has as many as 50,000 men, while Prigozhin was also behind the troll farms that tried to meddle in the US elections in 2016.
Source: Al Jazeera
