{"id":34210,"date":"2023-06-25T21:28:00","date_gmt":"2023-06-25T21:28:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/?p=34210"},"modified":"2023-07-02T08:23:00","modified_gmt":"2023-07-02T08:23:00","slug":"wagners-mutiny-punctured-putins-strongman-image-and-exposed-cracks-in-his-rule","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wagners-mutiny-punctured-putins-strongman-image-and-exposed-cracks-in-his-rule\/","title":{"rendered":"Wagner\u2019s mutiny punctured Putin\u2019s \u2018strongman\u2019 image and exposed cracks in his\u00a0rule"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Peter Rutland<\/a>, Wesleyan University<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Less than 24 hours after the mutiny began, it was over.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the rebelling Wagner column bore down on Moscow<\/a>, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko brokered a deal<\/a> under which Russian President Vladimir Putin promised to drop criminal charges against the mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin and allow him to seek asylum in Belarus. The departing Wagner troops were given<\/a> a heroes\u2019 send-off<\/a> by some residents of Rostov-on-Don \u2013 the southern Russian town they had taken control over without firing a shot earlier in the day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prigozhin gambled and lost. But he lives to fight another day \u2013 for now at least.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The events of June 24, 2023, had observers searching for the right term to describe what was going on: Was this a coup attempt, a mutiny, an insurrection?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Did Prigozhin seriously think that he would be able to enter Moscow? Perhaps he genuinely believed that Putin would accede to his demand to fire Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu<\/a> and Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov \u2013 two men that the Wagner group head has previously harshly criticized for their conduct of the war.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More radically, Prigozhin may have hoped that he would receive support from elements in the Russian military. Indeed, that seemed to be the case \u2013 his group encountered no resistance in taking over Rostov-on-Don<\/a> or heading north for some 350 miles (600 kilometers) through Voronezh and Lipetsk provinces \u2013 though they were reportedly attacked by a helicopter gunship<\/a>, which they shot down. Prigozhin claimed to command 25,000 troops, though the actual number may be half that figure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
Head of the Wagner Group Yevgeny Prigozhin leaves Rostov-on-Don. Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

But while the mutiny was short-lived and its goals unclear, it will have lasting effects \u2013 exposing the fragility of Putin\u2019s grip on power and his ability to lead Russia to victory over Ukraine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Putin\u2019s impotence<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Prigozhin\u2019s abortive insurrection has punctured the \u201cstrongman\u201d image of Putin, both for world leaders and for ordinary Russians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He was unable to do anything to stop Prigozhin\u2019s rogue military unit as it seized Rostov-on-Don \u2013 where the Russian Southern Military Command is headquartered \u2013 and then sent a column of armored vehicles up the M4 highway toward Moscow. Putin was forced to make a televised address<\/a> at 10 a.m. local time on June 24 describing the revolt as a \u201cstab in the back\u201d and calling for harsh punishment of the mutineers. But it was the intervention of Belarus President Lukashenko that brought about an end to the mutiny, not any words or actions from Putin. Somewhat uncharacteristically, both Prigozhin and Putin exercised restraint and stepped back from the brink of civil war by agreeing on the compromise deal that allowed Prigozhin to escape punishment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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