2023-08-27 10:02:16
Moscow has long offered little room for dissent and in a context of what the Kremlin continues to label today as a “special military operation”, this has grown in crescendo. One of the most critical Yevgeny Prigozhin, is presumed deceased after the plane crash that suffered the private jet from the Wagner company. The chief of the Wagner mercenaries has already broken one of the unwritten rules of Putinism, avoiding criticizing other members of the Russian elite in public, something he did not like in the Kremlin.
His videos addressed to Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov, appealed between profanity and bad manners, traveled the world and made a dent in the Russian leadership. Vladimir Putin wanted to remain the arbiter of that conflict, but when it erupted into something real during the Wagner coup at the end of June, he opted for the side of the Ministry of Defense, leaving the leader of the “musicians” helpless, who was seen forced to capitulate.
At first, it seemed that he was even going to get off scot-free as they left Rostov-on-Don, the only city they controlled, taking selfies with ordinary Russians. At that time, his treason charges were dropped and he was able to return to Russia without any problems. For weeks he was going from Moscow to Saint Petersburg, even dropping by the Russia-Africa summit last July. However, Putin called the rebellion a “treason” and betrayal is something the Russian leader deeply dislikes, as he has expressed in the past. The Kremlin, however, has defended itself by pointing out that did not order the downing of the plane and is currently investigating what happened. The accident is reminiscent of the one suffered by General Aleksándr Lebed in 2003. This charismatic soldier competed against Boris Yeltsin in the 1996 presidential elections.
The Wagner group will mutate with Putin-like after being decapitated and will maintain its activity in Africa
Another elite man who tried to go it alone was the former oligarch Boris Berezovksi, something he paid dearly for, as he was forced to leave the country and died under mysterious circumstances in 2013 in the United Kingdom. Another powerful man who wanted to challenge power, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, clearly lost. Although he was the richest man in Russia in the 2000s, he spent more than a decade in jail. He was the founder of the Open Russia organization, branded as a “foreign agent” in the country itself, which aims to strengthen Russian civil society. After serving time in prison, he was allowed to leave the country and settled in Switzerland.
Ex-military in the pillory
Having served in the Army and even having been key in Ukraine, either in the current conflict or in the Donbas war between the pro-Russian militias and the regular Army with kyiv does not grant immunity. Both General Sergei Surovikin and the military Igor Girkin Strelkov know him firsthand.
The first, nicknamed General Armageddon by those who know him, was the visible face of the Russian Army in Ukraine for a few months between the fall and winter of 2022. However, he was relegated to another position and during the Wagner coup he was stopped without any public explanation. During the coup, a video of him asking the mercenaries to stop their march, which points out that they could force him to record it. Last Wednesday he was removed from his position as head of the Russian Aerospace Forces.
For his part, Igor Girkin, known in the Donbass for his role in key events such as the annexation of Crimea, the formation of the Donetsk separatist militias and the Donbas war itself, has been there practically since the Russian offensive in Ukraine began. without biting his tongue, going so far as to say that Putin should be “hanged” for poor planning of the conflict. He was arrested on July 21 of this year, accused of wanting to “make extremist public calls through social networks.”
During the year and a half of the conflict, the Kremlin has also squeezed those who want the country to take a more democratic and pro-European course, something more common in the Eurasian country. Many dissidents have preferred to leave the country, while the most prominent of those who stayed have suffered imprisonment and other legal punishments. Vladimir Kara-Murzá – imprisoned for 25 years on treason charges – and Ilya Yashin – received a nine-year sentence. Previously, other opponents such as Alekséi Navalni – poisoned and sentenced repeatedly -, Boris Nemtsov – shot dead in the heart of Moscow – or the journalist Anna Politkóvskaya also suffered from wanting to go against Russian power.
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