Mutiny in Russia | Where is Prigozhin? The trail of the Wagner leader is lost on the way to his exile to Belarus

2023-06-26 17:39:24

When Yevgeny Prigozhinthe leader of the mercenaries of Wagner, abandoned Rostov del Don, last Sunday, he felt the appreciation of his compatriots. In the city that he took with his men, passers-by asked for photos and selfies and gave him kind comments. Although he failed in his attempt to kick out what he considers “Rotten apples” of the Russian government, which he blames for the death of 100,000 soldiers, his outcome has been much better than could be foreseen at first. Neither the Russian military nor other groups joined his coup and even stood up to him with helicopters military, who came to fire on Wagner’s column of vehicles.Prigozhin’s whereabouts are currently completely unknown, although he is presumably in belarus or on the way

The Belarusian president, Aleksándr Lukashenko, mediated between Wagner and the Russian government to reach an agreement that would avoid a “bloodshed“. In said pact was included the exile of Prigozhin in his country, where he will be able to establish himself after having fallen from the pedestal that he earned after years of service to Putinism. Officially, the agreement cleared him of the charges with which he was initially charged, such as rebellion y organization of a riot.

Prigozhin declares for the first time after the riot that he did not want to overthrow power in Russia

However, some Russian establishment media pointed out on Monday that they would not have withdrawn in their entirety. The charge for mutiny would remain in force, and for it he can get between 12 and 20 years in prison. According to the same media, it is not possible to drop those charges when so little time has passed. This information has not been confirmed by either the police or the FSB.

Economic power

In addition to having under his control the most important mercenary company in Russia, which at its peak had 50,000 men, the Anti-Corruption Foundation — branded an extremist organization by the Russian authorities — of the opposition Alexei Navalny He pointed out that Prigozhin enjoyed a large fortune, in addition to having a yacht, multiple properties and an airplane to his credit.

Putin reappears in a video message after the Wagner mutiny

His private army, which for years has been Russia’s club around the world, had a presence in different countries both from Africa like Asia y Latin America, apart from Ukraine. Wherever Moscow had economic interests, the mercenary group was present to do what regular troops could not do, in the same way that Academy He did the same for the United States. This activity abroad, with the explicit permission of the Kremlin, served him to exploit all kinds of natural resources in those countries, which according to the West he would have been selling for profit.

All this economic power is what, to this day, the formerly called “Putin’s cook” has left, since he is unofficially persona non grata in Russia and will lose his personal army, which will be partially integrated into the regular Army. He will also lose his political influence and his allies, such as the governor of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrovor Sergei Surovikin, the so-called “General Armaggedon”.