2023-06-26 15:59:51
Is it the desire to show that it did not emerge weakened from the crisis? Or, even, to suggest that there is no crisis at all? Vladimir Putin appeared on a video posted on the Kremlin website this Monday at midday, on the occasion of the opening of an industrial forum.
On the images, the Russian president is installed behind a desk without it being possible to determine where and when it was filmed. In his speech, he does not mention the armed mutiny that has shaken Russia, but mentions the “challenges” that the industry is facing as a result of Western sanctions.
A few hours earlier, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu made his first appearance on Russian public television since the failed rebellion of the paramilitary group Wagner. According to extracts provided by the Ministry of Defense and broadcast by the Rossia 24 television channel, he went to a command post of the Russian forces in Ukraine and “held a meeting there with the leaders” of one of the units.
During this interview, Sergei Shoigu notably “underlined the great efficiency of the detection and destruction” of weapons systems and soldiers of the “enemy”, the Ministry of Defense said in a press release.
Shoigu in the sights of Prigojine
On the television images, we see the Minister listening, with a sober and calm air, to a report presented by General Yevgeny Nikiforov, commander of the Zapad (“West”) military group in the area of the Russian operation in Ukraine, studying geographical maps or take a helicopter ride to inspect Russian positions.
For many months, Sergei Shoigu has been at the heart of the criticisms publicly voiced by the head of Wagner. But a higher step was taken on Friday evening, when Yevgeny Prigojine tried to lead a mutiny – finally aborted after 24 hours. The businessman at the head of the militia had promised to “liberate the Russian people” by targeting in particular his two sworn enemies, Minister Shoigu and Chief of Staff Valeri Guerassimov, whom he accuses of having sacrificed thousands of men in Ukraine.
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