No clear loser after Prigozhin's mutiny, Ukrainian journalist believes
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No one lost during the Wagner PMC mutiny led by Yevgeny Prigozhin, and the conflict between the two large power blocs around Russian dictator Vladimir Putin will continue, Ukrainian journalist and blogger Denis Kazanskyi said in an interview with Radio NV on June 30.
He pointed out that Prigozhin is still at large after the mutiny, despite having killed a number of Russian servicemen, including highly-trained helicopter pilots.
"Yesterday it was reported that he was walking freely in St. Petersburg," Kazanskyi said.
The journalist stated that it is unclear what the Wagner PMC leader will do next.
"In fact, there was an attempted coup, two large groups that are in Putin's entourage clashed, and no one lost," Kazanskyi believes.
“That is, the status quo has actually returned. Both the former and the latter remained at large, and no one was killed or imprisoned. There will probably be a continuation. It cannot just end in nothing.”
Prigozhin announced the beginning of an armed conflict with the Russian Defense Ministry on the evening of June 23, claiming that he wanted to “restore justice” in Russia.
He said that the Russian army struck the mercenaries’ “rear camp.” However, the conflict between Prigozhin and Shoigu had started months earlier.
For the past few months, the Wagner leader has been persistently demanding the resignation of the Russian defense minister, accusing him of poor management of the Russian armed forces and of not supplying enough ammunition to Wagner forces.
The next day, Wagner forces seized control over the main military facilities in the cities of Rostov-on-Don and Voronezh. They also shot down seven Russian Air Force aircraft.
Prigozhin then demanded meetings with Russia’s top military leadership and threatened to “advance towards Moscow” in a video address shot in Rostov-on-Don.
Putin, in turn, posted a video address saying that the Russian Armed Forces had ordered to eliminate those who led the “rebellion”.
The FSB charged Prigozhin with “inciting insurrection,” while security forces prepared to defend Moscow. Putin is believed to have fled the capital to his residence in Valdai, northwest of Moscow.
Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko held talks with Prigozhin as his mercenaries closed in on Moscow, Lukashenko’s press office stated, culminating in a deal where Prigozhin agreed to halt his forces’ advance on the Russian capital – in exchange for dropping charges and changes at the Russian Ministry of Defense.
Soon after, Prigozhin ordered Wagner mercenaries to turn back from Moscow and return to their combat positions.
On June 29, the Russian news outlet Fontanka reported that Prigozhin may be in St. Petersburg, claiming that a person resembling the Wagner leader was seen wearing a medical mask at the helipad on the English Embankment in St. Petersburg. This person then flew away in a helicopter belonging to a company associated with Prigozhin.
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