Putin is humiliated – in front of the world and his confidants. Now he has to react. And Prigozhin could face a defenestration, comments Marcus Mäckler.
For a day there was a smell of overthrow in Russia. And although it didn’t turn out that way in the end, last Saturday’s chaos shook the Kremlin deeply. The Wagner troops may not have dragged Vladimir Putin out of his bunker – but they have damaged his system, which is based on constant control and unconditional authority, enough to last a lifetime as an autocrat.
Prigozhin’s uprising: not the first, but the greatest humiliation for Putin
It is by no means the first, but the greatest humiliation for Putin. It is so powerful because the short-term uprising has shown it to be weaker than ever before: First, the Kremlin ruler couldn’t get the long-simmering dispute between mercenary boss Prigozhin and the military leadership under control. He was then unable to stop the self-created Wagner monster (military) as it turned against him.
Finally he had to, what an act of desperation, ask his Belarus vassal Lukashenko for help – and let the “traitor” Prigozhin get away scot-free. The fact that the Wagner boss exposed one of the pretexts for Russia’s attack on Ukraine as a lie is probably the least of Putin’s worries.
Putin’s authority has been damaged – it would not be surprising if the next defenestration follows
All of this will resonate. In the Ukraine, Putin now lacks the bloodthirsty Wagner mercenaries to whom he owes his greatest “successes”. Uncertainty is likely to spread among the regular troops. Above all, however, the authority of the would-be tsar has suffered serious damage, in the eyes of the world and, more importantly, in the eyes of his own circle of power.
If this is not to be the beginning of his end, he must react. Maybe he’s lashing out, in his own country, in Ukraine or in Belarus. In any case, it wouldn’t be surprising if Prigozhin soon fell out of some window.
Marcus Maeckler
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