Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin was set up by Putin – according to the thesis of a Russia expert. Putin can no longer hide.
MOSCOW/LONDON – “Unlike others whom Putin has declared enemies – Chechens, oligarchs, Ukraine, the West – Prigozhin is entirely his creature,” wrote Russia analyst Nigel Gould-Davies on Saturday after the Wagner uprising began , which Vladimir Putin may have been aware of, on Twitter. The Russian President is therefore responsible for the escalation around Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozchin. Prigozhin’s rise was “thanks exclusively to Putin’s patronage”.
“Nobody can be satisfied with that,” Gould-Davies continued. “Even though Wagner quickly withdrew, this is another example of Putin’s disastrous leadership. He created all the conditions for it. There is no one to blame and no place to hide.” Gould-Davies of the London think tank International Institute for Strategic Studies was according to the British Guardians among other things already a diplomat in Moscow.
Did Putin’s indecisiveness fuel the conflict between Prigozhin and Shoigu?
Gould-Davies also said loudly on Saturday that Putin was undecided and thus fueled the internal conflict between Prigozhin and the regular military leadership around Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chief of Staff Valery Gerasimov dpa. “Following the start of the invasion of Ukraine, this is another example of Putin’s poor judgment.” The internal conflict is emboldening Ukrainian troops and demoralizing Russian ones. Political scientist Carlo Masala also classified the Wagner uprising as a “severe humiliation” for Vladimir Putin.
It is profoundly ironic that Putin, obsessed from the start with creating a “power vertical” in a “hypercentralized state,” has wrought division and conflict in the most basic form of power: “military force,” Gould- Davies continued on Twitter.
Russia: Wagner boss Prigozhin also enjoyed fool’s freedom in Africa
Gould-Davies had already accused Putin in April 2022, shortly after the start of the Ukraine war, of having made a serious strategic mistake by attacking Ukraine. Whether “Russia wins, loses, or finds a compromise on the ground, the most fatal uncertainty of war is its impact on the home front. Like Marx’s mummies exposed to the air, Putin’s war exposed many weaknesses in Russia’s power,” he wrote in a scholarly article Taylor and Francis Online. Loud dpa he prophesied for Russia after the Wagner uprising on Saturday: “The elites will worry even more about the consequences of Putin’s rule.”
Prigozhin was considered untouchable in the Kremlin and was able to do so again and again freely criticize the Russian military leadership. In Russia, Prigozhin is said to continue to have lucrative contracts for school meals. In Africa, too, the Wagner boss has the freedom to fool. Thanks to this special position Prigozhin started lucrative deals in Libya, Mali, the Central African Republic, Mozambique, Madagascar and Sudan. The Wagner group also reportedly fueled the conflict in Sudan with weapons: Prigozhin is said to supported the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) against the Sudanese military. (dpa/kat)
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