Vladimir Putin is weak and pathetic

benfell

Imperialism

Russia

Ukraine
Wagner mutiny

“It’s not the end of [Yevgeny] Prigozhin,” the businessman said, speaking Wednesday on the condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal. “They returned all his money to him. More than this, today they even gave back to him his honorary pistol, the Glock, and another weapon. He came to take it himself.”

Prigozhin, however, could still be vulnerable to new criminal cases if Putin fears he looks weak amid a barrage of criticism in Russia for dropping the insurgency charges. Putin, while refusing to say Prigozhin’s name, has publicly raised a question of financial crimes in connection with numerous contracts that Prigozhin’s businesses had with the government.[1]

I remain as dumbfounded about this—it would seem I’m not alone[2]—as when I saw[3] the earlier Telegraph report.[4]

I completely get the send the political enemy into exile bit.[5] That’s been happening since time immemorial. The let him come back and retrieve the money and weapons he was using against you bit—no, you’ve gotta be fucking kidding me, that just doesn’t fit the mold even one little bit.

[Yevgeny] Prigozhin still appears to have sufficient leverage in Russia, after Wagner earned a reputation as arguably Russia’s most effective assault force in Ukraine. That stature, and his many connections in high places, seemed to at least partly explain why he was allowed to walk around St. Petersburg and potentially Moscow, apparently with no fear of arrest, even after he was called a traitor and supposedly exiled.

Officials in Moscow appear to be wrestling with the difficult question of how Wagner can be replaced, both in Ukraine and in its operations in Africa, where it has extended Russia’s reach through its security contracts with several governments.[6]

Where, in the foregoing, Robyn Dixon and Catherine Belton write of ‘leverage’[7] my old San Francisco taxi driver’s nose smells corruption.

Corruption, of course, is part of the explanation for the Russian military’s abysmal performance in Ukraine—again, many people have said this—and so it’s more than a bit laughable that Vladimir Putin promises a full financial investigation of the Wagner Group.[8]

One explanation is that Wagner Group operations are complex; Russia needs Prigozhin to wind them up. It is also suggested that Putin must have approved Prigozhin’s return.[9] But no, I’m sorry, that’s simply not how this is done.

I think for Prigozhin to be “allowed to walk around St. Petersburg and potentially Moscow, apparently with no fear of arrest, even after he was called a traitor and supposedly exiled”[10] can only mean that Putin is not, in fact, in control of the Russian government, even within the Kremlin, let alone outside it.

A bunch of folks were adamant that the story of the Wagner mutiny isn’t over. With this, I have to think they’re right.

Julia Ioffe, “Putin’s Post-Prigozhin Clean Up,” Puck, July 5, 2023, https://puck.news/putins-post-prigozhin-clean-up/

Nataliya Vasilyeva, “Prigozhin flies to Russia to collect weapons seized after mutiny,” Telegraph, July 5, 2023, https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2023/07/05/yevgeny-prigozhin-wagner-returns-russia-weapons-belarus/

Robyn Dixon and Catherine Belton, “Mercenary boss returned to Russia to collect money and guns,” Washington Post, July 6, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/07/06/yevgeny-prigozhin-russia-wagner-rebellion/

  1. [1]Robyn Dixon and Catherine Belton, “Mercenary boss returned to Russia to collect money and guns,” Washington Post, July 6, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/07/06/yevgeny-prigozhin-russia-wagner-rebellion/↩
  2. [2]Robyn Dixon and Catherine Belton, “Mercenary boss returned to Russia to collect money and guns,” Washington Post, July 6, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/07/06/yevgeny-prigozhin-russia-wagner-rebellion/↩
  3. [3]David Benfell, “Because ‘voices in your head’ are so passé,” Irregular Bullshit, July 6, 2023, https://disunitedstates.com/2023/07/06/because-voices-in-your-head-are-so-pass/↩
  4. [4]Nataliya Vasilyeva, “Prigozhin flies to Russia to collect weapons seized after mutiny,” Telegraph, July 5, 2023, https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2023/07/05/yevgeny-prigozhin-wagner-returns-russia-weapons-belarus/↩
  5. [5]Gabriel Gavin and Christian Oliver, “Kremlin says Prigozhin will depart for Belarus after his rebellion fizzles,” Politico, June 24, 2023, https://www.politico.eu/article/wagner-group-russia-forces-turn-back-moscow-prigozhin-declares/↩
  6. [6]Robyn Dixon and Catherine Belton, “Mercenary boss returned to Russia to collect money and guns,” Washington Post, July 6, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/07/06/yevgeny-prigozhin-russia-wagner-rebellion/↩
  7. [7]Robyn Dixon and Catherine Belton, “Mercenary boss returned to Russia to collect money and guns,” Washington Post, July 6, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/07/06/yevgeny-prigozhin-russia-wagner-rebellion/↩
  8. [8]Robyn Dixon and Catherine Belton, “Mercenary boss returned to Russia to collect money and guns,” Washington Post, July 6, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/07/06/yevgeny-prigozhin-russia-wagner-rebellion/↩
  9. [9]Robyn Dixon and Catherine Belton, “Mercenary boss returned to Russia to collect money and guns,” Washington Post, July 6, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/07/06/yevgeny-prigozhin-russia-wagner-rebellion/↩
  10. [10]Robyn Dixon and Catherine Belton, “Mercenary boss returned to Russia to collect money and guns,” Washington Post, July 6, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/07/06/yevgeny-prigozhin-russia-wagner-rebellion/↩

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