An insurrection was due sooner or later in Russia. It took place yesterday, jolting the world into surprise, and was snuffed out with Putinian promptitude.
Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of the Wagner mercenary group, declared that his fighters had been hit by Russian forces in Eastern Ukraine, and swore revenge on Telegram.
The Wagner Group was founded in 2014 by Prighozhin, Putin’s close confidant and head of a catering company. The Wagner group is a group of entities that operate as a private military company, or PMC. These PMCs can be hired by governments for security or combat services. In January, it was declared a transnational criminal organization. The group has been a key piece of Russia’s strategy in Ukraine, with Wagner forces being used to hold cities like Bakhmut. Prigozhin has sharply criticized Russian military leadership for weeks, calling top brass incompetent, even traitorous. He has also refused to sign a contract to cooperate with the Russian Defense Ministry, reports CBS News.
Prigozhin is wanted by the FBI for “Conspiracy to Defraud the United States.” The federal law enforcement agency is offering a $250,000 award for information leading to Prigozhin’s arrest for allegedly overseeing the political and electoral interference of the St. Petersburg, Florida-based Internet Research Agency from 2014 to 2018. The agency, for which Prigozhin was the primary funder, worked to interfere with the 2016 U.S. presidential election, the FBI alleged.
Russia’s Federal Security Service responded to this outcry by starting a criminal case against him for what it said was a call for an armed rebellion.
Putin, a television address, characteristically declared that “Everything that weakens Russia should be thrown aside”.
Prigozhin subsequently rejected Putin’s charges of treason on Saturday, saying in an audio message that he and his fighters were the true “patriots” of Russia. His target is one of Putin’s current right hand men, Minister of Defence Sergei Shoigu, whom he has accused of allowing the murder of tens of thousands of Russians in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, reports the BBC.
The fact that Prigozhin was once a powerful ally is salient – and makes you wonder who else will turn their back on Putin in the future.
