Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin’s weekend uprising against the Kremlin was financed to some extent by the state. Russian leader Vladimir Putin said he had pumped nearly a billion euros into the mercenaries. For experts, Prigozhin is a “dead man walking.”
According to political scientist Herfried Münkler, their boss Yevgeny Prigoschin had to fear for his life after the armed uprising of the Wagner mercenaries in Russia. “I assume that the Russians will liquidate Prigozhin sooner or later,” he told Der Spiegel.
The Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko, who now apparently hosts him, will hardly stand in the way of the Russian secret service.
Experts: “Putin’s cook” gambled
According to several geopolitical experts, including Jessica Berlin and Ian Bremmer, Prigozhin is a “dead man walking”. Freely translated: more dead than alive. Russia expert Gerhard Mangott recently made a similar statement in “ZIB2”. Wagner’s boss is now worth more dead to Moscow than alive. Although the charges against ‘Putin’s cook’ – as the Wagner boss is often called – have been officially dropped. Putin had announced on Saturday that the masterminds would face their “inevitable punishment”.
On Tuesday, the Kremlin boss also admitted for the first time that the Wagner army was fully funded by the state. “We fully funded this group,” Putin said at a Kremlin press event. According to him, from May 2022 to May 2023, the group received a total of 86.26 billion rubles (about 930 million euros) from the state budget. Officially, the Wagner Army calls itself a private military company.
Putin associates Prigozhin with corruption
At the same time, Putin announced an investigation into the money flows at the parent company of the Wagner army, Concord Holding. Because while the Wagner group was fully financed by the state, Concord also earned 80 billion rubles. “I hope nobody stole anything or, shall we say, stole a little bit,” Putin threatened.
The Wagner units were one of the most powerful and brutal forces in the Russian offensive war that had been going on for 16 months. In addition to many ex-prisoners, the “private army” also employs highly professional mercenaries with extensive combat experience.
Should Shoigu go?
Putin announced changes in the leadership of the Russian armed forces “in the near future”. The ‘backbone’ of the armed forces leadership in the future will consist of people who have proven themselves in combat. This includes the Air Force. The Kremlin head has not commented on whether he is sticking with his defense minister, Sergei Shoigu.
Shoigu has been criticized for months for the failure of the offensive war against Ukraine and also had nothing to stop the uprising of Prigozhin – one of his biggest opponents. Reports say that at least 13 Russian soldiers were killed during the weekend trip of the Wagner boss. As we now know: financed by the state.
Prigozhin arrived in Belarus
It is now known that Prigozhin arrived in Belarus. “Yes, really, he is in Belarus today,” ruler Alexander Lukashenko said in Minsk on Tuesday, according to state news agency Belta. The Kremlin had assured Prigozhin impunity if he left for Belarus.
Source: Krone
I am Wallace Jones, an experienced journalist. I specialize in writing for the world section of Today Times Live. With over a decade of experience, I have developed an eye for detail when it comes to reporting on local and global stories. My passion lies in uncovering the truth through my investigative skills and creating thought-provoking content that resonates with readers worldwide.
