2 Jul 2023

Jack Watling: Putin after Prigozhin

From Sunday Morning, 8:10 am on 2 July 2023
Russian President Vladimir Putin walks down the steps to address troops from the defence ministry, National Guard, FSB security service and interior ministry gathered on the Sobornaya (Cathedral) Square from the porch of the the Palace of the Facets on the grounds of the Kremlin in central Moscow on June 27, 2023. (Photo by Sergei GUNEYEV / SPUTNIK / AFP)

Photo: SERGEI GUNEYEV

Russia’s government is moving to demonstrate it still has control over the country, following a brief mutiny by one of the country’s most powerful military groups. 

Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin flew to Belarus in exile on Tuesday (June 27), after his fighters protested of the Russian Military’s handling of the Ukraine conflict. 

Ukraine hopes the chaos caused by the mutiny attempt will undermine Russian defences, as it presses a counteroffensive to recapture occupied territory. 

Members of Wagner group looks from a military vehicle in Rostov-on-Don late on June 24, 2023. Rebel mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin who sent his fighters to topple the military leaders in Moscow will leave for Belarus and a criminal case against him will be dropped as part of a deal to avoid "bloodshed," the Kremlin said on June 24. (Photo by Roman ROMOKHOV / AFP)

Members of Wagner group look out from a military vehicle in Rostov-on-Don late on 24 June 2023. Photo: ROMAN ROMOKHOV / AFP

Dr Jack Watling is the senior research fellow for land warfare at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), the world’s oldest and the UK’s leading defence and security thinktank. Originally from New Zealand, he has spent periods of time since this war began on the ground with the armed forces in Ukraine, and has won international media awards for his analysis.