Arkady Moshes, program director of the Institute for Foreign Policy, thinks it is absurd that the Wagner director moves freely in Russia, while at the same time the Russian media accuses him of several crimes.
of the leader of the Wagner forces Yevgeny Prigozhin his whereabouts have been speculated after the troops of the private mercenary army led by him marched towards Moscow on Midsummer.
Today the president of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko told the press conference of foreign journalists that the Wagner manager was in Russia.
Program director of the Foreign Policy Institute Arkady Moshes says in a phone interview that he doesn’t Prigozhin stay in Russia is not a surprise.
– He has been in Russia for several days. His driver received over ten billion rubles held by the police with a power of attorney. He himself has received his personal weapons, hunting rifles and pistols back.
Opposing stories no longer sink into the audience
According to a researcher familiar with Russia, it is instead shocking that two stories are being told about the Wagner leader in Russia.
– Prigozhin seems to be moving safely on Russian soil. At the same time, the media is throwing mud at him in a colossal campaign. It is no longer possible to explain this.
Program director Moshes estimates that these conflicting stories are also gradually eroding the credibility of President Vladimir Putin.
– Conspiracy theories gain more ground again. According to them, the whole rebellion was a provocation, because Prigozhin is allowed to move freely, but General Sergei Surovikin has not been seen. Some again suspect that the purge was after all a ploy to separate the loyalists from the skeptics.
Arkady Moshes estimates that if ten days ago it seemed that the system could withstand events like the Midsummer Uprising, now that Prigozin is spared punishment also erodes the credibility of the Russian president.
The future of the Wagner manager is also uncertain.
– His life insurance may be secret intelligence information that Russia does not want to make public.
Belarusian leader on the siding
President of Belarus Lukashenka has been active in public as an ally of Russia. He announced again today that he is ready to mediate peace.
– He has been a courier and postman. The Kremlin has now clearly signaled to Minsk that the president is no longer the central figure in the operation.
Reuters