” The crash “, this is what you can read on the first page of Release. “Prigojine, a putsch that is paid for in cash “, writes the daily, not stingy with assonances this morning. This is followed by an article recounting the announcement of this crash and an editorial, entitled “Mafia message”.
Hint left before this comparison: “This ‘accidental’ death was as predictable as Michael Corleone’s execution of a faithless lieutenant in The Godfather “. Freed adds in a breath: “that too honest officials have fallen from an open window, that too independent investigators have drunk poisoned tea “.
Freed assumes and then declares, still in its editorial, “Putin wants to clean up.” From one page to another, we discover this photo of the late Prigojine, receiving Vladimir Poutine in his restaurant. The latter, with a half-awed, half-disgusted face, sits down to eat.
” Lord of War “
“The Thunderous Businessman”, ” Lord of War ” are some of the qualifiers that often come up in the press, just like that of “Kremlin cook”. Freed traces the route taken by Prigojine. “The rogue restaurateur with a shaved head and grim eyes, who became one of the most visible faces of the war in Ukraine through aggressive communication, foul language […]…… defined himself above all as a patriot”, tells us about the daily.
Patriot who dreamed of being a professional skier but quickly finds himself caught in the avalanche of delinquency and legal troubles to finally begin his ascent with hot dogs, until arriving at luxury restaurants. It was then that he met Vladimir Putin, then adviser to the mayor. Release then tells us about the different turns taken by the businessman, up to Wagner. Freed writing : “there is no denying, everything in the life of [Prigojine] is romantic, unthinkable”.
“Bazooka talk”
In the same vein,Le Figaro describes this journey as epic. In its article, the daily advances: “the dark face of Putin’s power had a face: it was that of Yevgueni Prigojine, clumsy and bald”. Face long remained in shadow, further clarifies Le Figaro. “The aggression against Ukraine will change everything, as if this war, by exposing the weaknesses of the Russian system, had played particle accelerators in the black box of power, sharpening rivalries and hatreds” writing Le Figaro, “the very retiring Prigojine will let his ambitions explode, relying on his ‘talents’: propaganda and armed violence”.
The newspaper describes Prigozhin as a super-communicator, “about the bazooka” we read, “not a week without him giving voice”. On the other side, the targets are called Choïgou and Guérassimov, respectively Minister of Defense and Russian Chief of Staff.
Gold Le Figaro adds that “In a world where quarrels and resentment do not normally come out of the walls of power, these public insults are out of place”. Too committed, explains the newspaper, or too intoxicated by his own words, here we are now at the end of last June and this abortive rebellion which marks the end of the epic. “We still see Prigojine parading at the Russia-Africa summit in Saint Petersburg in July, then, in recent days on the ground in the Sahel […] he does not know that his days are numbered. Or does he know ? » interrogates Le Figaro.
An analysis can also be read in Le Parisien-Today in France by Carole Grimmaud. This Russia specialist says she sees in this crash “a signal addressed to the elites and the army, a warning”according to her. “Putin tells them: this is what awaits you if you stop being loyal”. To the question: what could become of Wagner? Carole Grimmaud remains evasive “Wagner is too important in Africa […] there will be a change of leadership. But his activities and his presence […] will probably last”.
“When the war is over”
Wagner who played an important role in Ukraine. And precisely, the newspaper The cross headlines the country as it celebrates its national day today. And after more than a year of war, this bitter-tasting celebration offers a feeling of deja vu. “Ukraine, a frozen front” tell us The cross, with a photo of two Ukrainian soldiers training near Kupiansk, in the Kharkiv region in the east of the country.
And then you can read the story of the special envoy of The cross in this city already tested by the war because it fell in the first moments, then liberated, then again under constant Russian fire for several days. A unique situation, the newspaper reminds us. If the Ukrainian counter-offensive “advancing only very slowly, with still marginal territorial gains, it places Moscow’s troops everywhere in a defensive position”.
But not in Kupyansk writes The cross. Here, “Russian soldiers are stepping up their attacks to advance” with destructive airstrikes. Follows a sad walk led by angry inhabitants, “castaways of war” tell us The crosssentenced “to wander here, in these deserted avenues” mostly populated by soldiers. Others manage to flee, thanks in particular to the work of associations. Oksana, quoted in the article, took a long time to make up her mind, but she finally left, taking her three cats and three dogs with her. We don’t leave anyone behind, just our house. On the way out of town, tell The cross, a policeman asks her if she intends to return home. She answers : “Maybe when the war is over”.