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☆ His Glory Fading, a Russian Warlord Took One Last Stab at Power
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-27 | by ( Paul Sonne | Anatoly Kurmanaev | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Well before Yevgeny V. Prigozhin seized a major Russian military hub and ordered an armed march on Moscow, posing a startling and dramatic threat to President Vladimir V. Putin, the caterer-turned-mercenary-boss was losing his own personal war. Mr. Prigozhin’s private army had been sidelined. The commander he most admired in the Russian military had been removed as the top general overseeing Ukraine. Mr. Putin sided publicly with Mr. Prigozhin’s adversaries, affirming that all irregular units fighting in Ukraine would have to sign contracts with the Ministry of Defense. That included Mr. Prigozhin’s private military company, Wagner.

Persons: Yevgeny V, Prigozhin, Vladimir V, Putin, Sergei K, Shoigu, Mr, Wagner Organizations: Ukraine, Ministry of Defense Locations: Russian, Moscow, Ukraine

☆ After Prigozhin’s Uprising, Yesterday’s Putin Is Gone - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-27 | by ( Andrei Kolesnikov | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Mr. Putin today is not who he was last week. Is Mr. Putin really the all-powerful, czar-like figure they thought he was? Mr. Prigozhin, while becoming a relatively popular figure among certain groups, was never a serious or convincing candidate as a national leader. First, he said that to defeat the enemy in Ukraine, Russians should tighten their belts and be ready to live like North Koreans. Replace Mr. Putin, his teacher in the profession of gaining power?

Persons: Putin, Prigozhin, Sergei Shoigu, Putin’s, Aleksandr Lukashenko of, Wagner Locations: Ukraine, North Koreans, Russia, Moscow, Aleksandr Lukashenko of Belarus, Russian

☆ Putin pays tribute to Russian pilots killed fighting mutineers
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

There has been no official information about how many pilots died or how many aircraft were shot down. Some Russian Telegram channels monitoring Russia's military activity, including the blog Rybar with more than a million subscribers, reported on Saturday that 13 Russian pilots were killed during the day-long mutiny. Among the aircraft downed were three Mi-8 MTPR electronic warfare helicopters, and an Il-18 aircraft with its crew, Rybar reported. It was also not clear in what circumstances the aircraft were shot down and pilots killed. Putin met on Monday night with the heads of Russian security services, including Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu, IFX reported, citing a Kremlin spokesperson.

Persons: Putin, Prigozhin, Biden, West, Vladimir Putin, Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Rybar, Sergei Shoigu, IFX, Shoigu, Alexander Lukashenko, Lukashenko, Joe Biden, John Kirby, Josep Borrell, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Cynthia Osterman, Stephen Coates, Grant McCool, Rosalba O'Brien, Lincoln Organizations: Telegram, Reuters, Russia's Defence Ministry, Kremlin, Defence Ministry, Belarus, White House, West, NATO, Union, Thomson Locations: Moscow, Russian, Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Luxembourg

☆ Opinion: It wasn’t like this in Moscow in 1991
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-27 | by ( Frida Ghitis | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

The short-lived rebellion prompted a furious reaction from his patron, Russian President Vladimir Putin, the usually cool modern-day czar. Long day covering a coup in Moscow on 1991, with @wolfblitzer and the legendary reporters Dick Blystone and Tom Mintier, with photographer Phil Turner. Our CNN Moscow bureau was teeming with action. In a famous image from August 1991, Russian President Boris Yeltsin rallies demonstrators against the coup plot against Mikhail Gorbachev. But even many of his opponents rejected the notion of a military coup.

Persons: Frida Ghitis, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Wagner, Vladimir Putin, Putin, ”, Isn’t Putin, Wolf Blitzer, Mikhail Gorbachev, Gorbachev, Dick Blystone, Tom Mintier, Phil Turner, that’s, Crews, Boris Yeltsin, Yeltsin, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, “, Erdogan, Hugo Chavez, Chavez, Nicolas Maduro, –, Prigozhin’s, Don —, Prigozhin, Russia’s, Facebook Prigozhin, I’ve Organizations: CNN, Washington Post, Politics, Wagner Group, Frida Ghitis CNN, AFP, Getty, Protesters, Putin, Twitter, Facebook, NATO Locations: Russia, Moscow, Russian, Soviet Union, Crimea, Long, CNN Moscow, Ukraine, Ankara, Turkish, Venezuelan, Venezuela, Rostov

☆ Russia-Ukraine War Putin Delivers Fiery Speech as Mercenary Leader’s Future Remains Uncertain
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-27 | by ( Victoria Kim | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +4 min

President Biden said the United States and its NATO allies had “nothing to do with” a rebellion by the Wagner mercenary group in Russia. Mr. Biden said that the United States would continue to assess the fallout from the crisis in Russia and closely align responses with its allies. On Monday, Mr. Prigozhin broke his silence to claim that his advance on Moscow had never been intended as a bid to seize power. While Mr. Miller may have been articulating official U.S. policy, President Biden has previously expressed a different personal view. “For God’s sake, this man cannot remain in power,” Mr. Biden said of Mr. Putin during a March 2022 visit to Poland.

Persons: Biden, Wagner, Putin, Zelensky, group’s, Vladimir V, Russia, Mr, Yevgeny V, Prigozhin, Volodymyr Zelensky, Matthew Miller, Miller, Putin’s, ”, “, Lynne M, Tracy Organizations: NATO, White, United, State Department, Russian Federation, Russian Ministry of Defense, . Locations: United States, Russia, Ukraine, Moscow, Belarus, Africa, Poland, U.S

☆ Putin Says Russia Is United Behind Him, After Quelling Rebellion
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-26 | by ( Valerie Hopkins | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

A visibly angry Vladimir V. Putin on Monday denounced as “blackmail” a weekend rebellion by the Wagner mercenary group even as he defended his response to the mutiny and hinted at leniency for those who took part, saying that “the entire Russian society united” around his government. Speaking publicly for the first time in two days, Mr. Putin, in an address broadcast on Monday night, refused to utter the name of the Wagner boss behind the insurrection, Yevgeny V. Prighozhin. But his contempt was clear for those who had seemed, briefly, to threaten civil war and upend Russia’s war effort in Ukraine, where Ukrainian forces are mounting a counteroffensive. “They wanted Russians to fight each other,” said Mr. Putin, Russia’s president. Instead, at the core of his five-minute speech on Monday was his insistence that he leads a nation and a government that present a united front to all threats.

Persons: Vladimir V, Putin, ”, Wagner, Yevgeny V, “, Mr Organizations: Kremlin Locations: Russian, Ukraine

☆ Ukraine War Updates: Russia's Defense Minister Visits Troops After Prigozhin's Uprising
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-26 | by ( Andrés R. Martínez | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

The ministry also posted a video of Mr. Shoigu that it said was from the trip, without specifying when or where it took place. Mr. Putin still has not been seen since giving a five-minute address to the nation on Saturday, in which he promised to crush the rebellion. Mr. Prigozhin, once a close ally and confidant of Mr. Putin, had for months publicly lambasted Mr. Shoigu and other military leaders, accusing them of mismanaging the war in Ukraine and starving his troops of ammunition. Mr. Prigozhin’s rebellion, which barely lasted 24 hours, ended on Saturday, when the leader of Belarus, a close ally of Mr. Putin, offered Mr. Prigozhin safe passage. Mr. Putin’s government dropped the charges against Mr. Prigozhin and said the Wagner troops could enlist in the military and would not face discipline.

Persons: Sergei K, Shoigu, Yevgeny V, Yevgeny Nikiforov, Wagner, Vladimir V, Putin, Prigozhin, Mr, Putin’s Organizations: ., Russian Defence Ministry, Reuters Russia’s, Defense, Russian Locations: Ukraine, Moscow, Russia, Belarus

☆ Biden and Putin Have Dueling Messages on the Mutiny in Russia
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-26 | by ( David E. Sanger | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

“We were not involved,” Mr. Biden insisted. But the lead item on the agenda is how to word political promises to Ukraine about how, and perhaps when, it might expect to join NATO. It was just such a drifting to the West, and toward the alliance, that contributed to Mr. Putin’s drive to invade the country last year. Since the start of the war in Ukraine, anticipating and undermining Russian information operations has been a key element of Mr. Biden’s strategy. That was why the president, over the objection of many in the intelligence agencies, decided to rapidly declassify intelligence in the fall of 2021 that Mr. Putin was planning to invade Ukraine.

Persons: ” Mr, Biden, “, Lithuania —, Putin Organizations: United States, NATO, Mr, Russian Locations: United, Vilnius, Lithuania, Belarus, Soviet Union, Ukraine, Bucha

☆ US gathered detailed intelligence on Wagner chief’s rebellion plans but kept it secret from most allies
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-26 | by ( Natasha Bertrand Alex Marquardt Kylie Atwood Kevin Liptak | Natasha Bertrand | Alex Marquardt | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Washington CNN —US intelligence officials were able to gather an extremely detailed and accurate picture of Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin’s plans leading up to his short-lived rebellion, including where and how Wagner was planning to advance, sources familiar with the matter told CNN. But the intelligence was so closely held that it was shared only with select allies, including senior British officials, and not at the broader NATO level, these sources said. Ukrainian officials were not told about the intelligence in advance, either, officials said, due primarily to fears that conversations between US and Ukrainian officials might be intercepted by adversaries. There were also signs that Wagner was stockpiling weapons and ammunition leading up to the rebellion, CNN has reported. “It’s an internal Russian matter,” the official said the Ukrainian officials were told, echoing what US and other Western officials have said publicly.

Persons: Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin’s, Prigozhin, Prigozhin’s, ”, Biden, Volodymyr Zelensky, Democratic Sen, Mark Warner of, “, “ Putin, ” Warner, Putin, –, Monday Organizations: Washington CNN, CNN, British, NATO, Russia’s Ministry of Defense, Russian Ministry of Defense, European, Democratic, Senate Intelligence, Kremlin, ” Locations: Rostov, Moscow, France, Germany, United Kingdom, Canada, Mark Warner of Virginia, Ukraine, Belarus, Russia, Russian Belgorod

Who is Mr. Prigozhin? Europe and the United States have been trying to shut down Prigozhin’s sprawling business operations for years. On the F.B.I.’s most wanted list, Mr. Prigozhin rose quickly in Putin’s Russia — from being the president’s favored caterer to winning major contracts that bankrolled Wagner Group, his private mercenary operation. Mr. Prigozhin also relies on a global network of corporate lawyers to fend off Western authorities, according to a separate F.T. Bill Browder, a former investor in Russia who has become one of Mr. Putin’s biggest critics, told DealBook that the president would look to reassert his authority by whatever means necessary.

Persons: Prigozhin, caterer, bankrolled, Wagner, Putin’s, , China’s, Putin, Bill Browder, DealBook, ” Organizations: bankrolled Wagner Group, Treasury Department, Evro, Central African, Financial Times, Treasury, — Terra Tech, BARL Locations: Prigozhin, Europe, United States, Russia, Syria, Ukraine, Evro Polis, Sudan, Central African Republic

☆ Opinion | Prigozhin and the Long and Infamous History of Failed Russian Rebellions
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-26 | by ( Serge Schmemann | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Theories are already circulating on social media that the entire rebellion was a charade from the start, maybe even staged by Mr. Putin for some convoluted reason. Mr. Prigozhin has waged a long and public feud with Mr. Shoigu over the handling of the Ukraine war and has accused him of giving insufficient support to the Wagner Group. Mr. Prigozhin is the epitome of a post-Soviet villain. Among many other evil deeds, Mr. Prigozhin built the Wagner Group, which first emerged in 2014 during Russia’s invasion of Crimea and has always been closely aligned to Mr. Putin. In his fury, Mr. Prigozhin had his men take control of the southern command center in Rostov-on-Don, Russia, and ordered them to drive north to Moscow on a “march for justice” to meet with military commanders.

Persons: Putin, Prigozhin, Sergei Shoigu, Shoigu, Putin’s, Wagner, ” Organizations: Mr, Wagner, Wagner Group, Central African Locations: Ukraine, Soviet, Crimea, Libya, Syria, Central African Republic, Rostov, Don, Russia, Moscow

An armed rebellion in Russia over the weekend stunned the world and amounted to the single biggest challenge to President Vladimir V. Putin’s rule since he came to power 23 years ago. Anton Troianovski, the Moscow bureau chief for The New York Times, talks about the man who led the revolt, Yevgeny V. Prigozhin, and about what might happen next.

Persons: Vladimir V, Anton Troianovski, Yevgeny V Organizations: The New York Times Locations: Russia, Moscow

☆ A Mutiny That Showed the Stress on Putin’s System of Rule
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-26 | by ( Amanda Taub | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The events of the last few days, in which Yevgeny V. Prigozhin, the head of a notorious private army called Wagner, mounted a brief rebellion against Russia’s military leadership, are not enough to answer that question. But they do suggest that Mr. Putin’s hold over the elite coalition that keeps him in power is under stress, with unpredictable consequences. A crucial coalitionEven though authoritarian leaders may appear to rule by fiat, they all rely on coalitions of powerful elites to stay in power, analysts say. The specifics vary by country and situation: Some count on the military, others on a single ruling party, the religious authorities, or wealthy business leaders. Even when a 2011 popular uprising turned into a bloody, protracted civil war, Mr. Assad’s supporters within the military kept him in power: The benefits of loyalty, to them, far outweighed the costs.

Persons: Vladimir V, Yevgeny V, Wagner, Putin’s, Bashar al, Assad’s Locations: Ukraine, Moscow, Syria

☆ Analysis: The 'mayfly' mutiny evaporates, but Russia is a changed place
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-26 | by ( Tim Lister | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

CNN —The weekend’s events in Russia seem an almost surreal interruption to the long slog of conflict unfolding in neighboring Ukraine. Yevgeny Prigozhin’s challenge to the Russian state erupted and receded in the space of 24 hours, but the consequences of his short-lived mutiny may reverberate for much longer. Prigozhin’s Wagner forces, for all his boasting, were never going to be a match for the Russian security forces. And yet, the saga was humiliating to the Russian military and at least embarrassing to the Kremlin. One Ukrainian military officer was provocatively shown on social media eating popcorn as he watched events in Russia unfold.

Persons: Yevgeny Prigozhin’s, Prigozhin’s Wagner, Prigozhin’s bluster, Sergei Shoigu, Prigozhin, Vladimir Putin, Mikhail Gorbachev –, Putin, Mikhailo Podolyak, It’s, ”, Pavel Zarubin, Russia “, Thomas Graham, Prigozhin’s, Wagner, ” Putin, Staff Valery Gerasimov, CFR’s Graham, Antony Blinken, ” Graham, Russia’s, Phillips O’Brien, “, Hanna Notte, ” Notte, there’s, STRINGER, “ Prigozhin, Stalin, Stephen Kotkin, Kremlin “, Kotkin Organizations: CNN, Southern Military, Kyiv, Council, Foreign Relations, Defense Ministry, Staff, ’, Moscow –, University of St, Center for Strategic, International Studies, Twitter, Getty Locations: Russia, Ukraine, Moscow, Prigozhin, Rostov, Russian, Voronezh, Ukrainian, Africa, Syria, Bakhmut, St, Petersburg, Andrews, Scotland, West, AFP, Kremlin

☆ Putin’s weaknesses laid bare after 24 hours of rebellion in Russia
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-26 | by ( Holly Ellyatt | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Face masks depicting Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, and owner of private military company Wagner Group Yevgeny Prigozhin are displayed among others for sale at a souvenir shop in St. Petersburg, Russia, Sunday, June 4, 2023. With a so-called "24-hour coup" by Russia's mercenary boss Yevgeny Prigozhin ending in an anti-climactic pullback, Russian President Vladimir Putin was able to avoid a dramatic and bloody standoff with his one-time ally. Russia experts and political analysts characterized the uprising as "24 hours that shook the Kremlin" and the biggest challenge to Putin and the Russian elite in decades. Tensions came to a head several weeks ago when the defense ministry announced that all private military companies, including Wagner, would have to sign contracts. Putin endorsed the move but Prigozhin refused to sign — only to then lead his fighters in the ill-fated revolt last Friday.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Wagner Group Yevgeny Prigozhin, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Putin, Hanna Liubakova, Prigozhin, Chris Weafer, Weafer, Sergei Shoigu, Valery Gerasimov, Wagner Organizations: Wagner Group, Wagner, Council's Eurasia Center, Saturday, Russian, Prigozhin Locations: St . Petersburg, Russia, Belarus, Russian, Rostov, Moscow, Ukraine, Donetsk

☆ The inside man who shook the Kremlin: Who is Yevgeny Prigozhin, and what's next for him?
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-26 | by ( Richard Engel | Yuliya Talmazan | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

Head of the Wagner Group Yevgeny Prigozhin left the Southern Military District headquarters on June 24, 2023 in Rostov-on-Don, Russia. A St. Petersburg native like Putin, Prigozhin, 62, has one of the most varied biographies among the Kremlin elite. With the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Prigozhin was able and eager to again prove his value to Putin. As the Russian army came up against surprisingly strong resistance, Wagner's mercenaries came in handy in the bloodiest of battles. The standoff then exploded and Prigozhin launched an armed rebellion on Friday after alleging that the Russian army fired at his mercenaries.

Persons: Wagner Group Yevgeny Prigozhin, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Vladimir Putin, —, Wagner, Michael A, Horowitz, what's, Prigohzin, Prigozhin, Putin, Read, Bashar al, Assad, Sergei Shoigu Organizations: Wagner Group, Southern Military, Stringer, Anadolu Agency, Getty, Le Beck, NBC News, Putin, Kremlin, Prigozhin, NBC, U.S, Internet Research Agency, Central African, Defense Ministry Locations: Rostov, Don, Russia, Moscow, Belarus, St, Petersburg, Europe, East, Africa, Crimean, Kyiv, Russian, Ukraine, Syria, Central African Republic, Bakhmut, U.S

☆ Putin has been exposed as a 'lame duck,' experts say: 'I have the feeling he is not really running the country'
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-25 | by ( Charles R. Davis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Yevgeny Prigozhin's rebellion is over but the damage to Vladimir Putin is irreversible, experts say. The Wagner boss showed that the Russian president no longer enjoys a monopoly of force in his country. Among Moscow's elites, "there is the growing feeling that he is a lame duck," a Russian journalist said. But there is the growing feeling that he is a lame duck, and they have to prepare for Russia after Putin." [...]Suggestions that Prigozhin's rebellion, the Kremlin's response, and Lukashenko's mediation were all staged by the Kremlin are absurd.

Persons: Yevgeny Prigozhin's, Vladimir Putin, Wagner, —, Putin, Prigozhin, Mikhail Zygar, Zygar, Alexsandr Lukashenko, Lukashenko, Andrew Kolesnikov, Saturday's, Kolesnikov, Mick Ryan, Insider's Katherine Tangalakis, hasn't, Ryan Organizations: Service, Ministry of Defense, Institute for, Carnegie Endowment, Wall Street Journal, Center for Strategic, International Studies Locations: Russian, Moscow, Ukraine, Yorker, Belarus, Russia, Washington

☆ Putin’s Beast That Would Now Devour Him
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-25 | by ( Roger Cohen | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Over the course of a month I spent in the Russian capital, the red-and-black billboards of Yevgeny V. Prigozhin’s Wagner paramilitary group multiplied. “Join the team of victors!” they said, beneath an image of menacing mercenaries in balaclavas and masks, only their eyes visible. A possible implication was that the Russian forces on the other mushrooming Moscow billboards — regular soldiers recruited by the Ministry of Defense pictured above slogans like “Real Work!” or “Be a hero!” — were the losers of President Vladimir V. Putin’s reckless gamble in Ukraine. Easier to order a latte than dwell on lost lives in Mariupol. officer, abruptly emerged as the inscrutable president and Mr.

Persons: Yevgeny V, Prigozhin’s Wagner, ”, ” —, Vladimir V, heedless Muscovites, Prigozhin, Putin Organizations: Ministry of Defense Locations: Russian, balaclavas, Moscow, Ukraine, Mariupol

☆ One Big Winner of Kremlin-Wagner Clash? The Dictator Next Door.
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-25 | by ( Valerie Hopkins | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Vladimir V. Putin is known for his tight control over the news media in Russia. His onetime ally, the Wagner military group founder Yevgeny V. Prigozhin, is himself the owner of a conservative media outlet and a flamboyant showman on social media. But on Sunday, he took credit for brokering an agreement between Mr. Putin and Mr. Prigozhin, averting a scenario that the Russian leader had compared to the civil war that followed the Revolution of 1917. Now Mr. Lukashenko, an international pariah, is trying to use the P.R. victory to burnish his credentials as a credible statesman, mediator — and above all, loyal ally to Mr. Putin.

Persons: Vladimir V, Putin, Wagner, Yevgeny V, Prigozhin’s, Aleksandr G, Lukashenko, Prigozhin, —, Mr Organizations: Mr Locations: Russia, Belarus, Belarusian

☆ Gripped by Uncertainty After Mutiny, Russians Note Absence of Kremlin Leaders
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-25 | by ( Neil Macfarquhar | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Confusion and uncertainty pervaded Russia on Sunday, with neither President Vladimir V. Putin nor Yevgeny V. Prigozhin, the head of a mutinous mercenary group, appearing anywhere in public a day after the most profound government crisis in three decades — an open military rebellion — appeared defused. And some wondered aloud why much of Russia’s leadership was being neither seen nor heard. Aside from Mr. Putin, neither Sergei K. Shoigu, the minister of defense, nor Valery V. Gerasimov, the military chief of staff, had put in a public appearance since the uprising started on Friday night. Many heads of the country’s security services also proved invisible. Could a foreign enemy, he asked, march with equal ease on the capital?

Persons: Vladimir V, Putin, Yevgeny V, —, ”, Sergei K, Valery V, Yuri Kotenok Organizations: Ministry of Defense Locations: Russia, Moscow, Ukraine

☆ Prigozhin Revolt Raises Searing Question: Did It Harm Putin’s Staying Power?
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-25 | by ( Anton Troianovski | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

President Vladimir V. Putin long styled himself as Russia’s guarantor of stability and the uncompromising protector of its statehood. In his absence, he left stunned Russians wondering how the leader of a paramilitary group, Yevgeny V. Prigozhin, could stage an armed mutiny on Saturday that threatened to reach Moscow. And it raised uncomfortable questions about the Russian president’s future: What did his failure to prevent the revolt mean for their security — and his staying power? Russians with ties to the Kremlin expressed relief on Sunday that Mr. Prigozhin’s uprising did not spark a civil war. But at the same time, they agreed that Mr. Putin had come off looking weak in a way that could be lasting.

Persons: Vladimir V, Putin, Yevgeny V, Prigozhin’s Organizations: Mr Locations: Moscow

☆ Putin: Bizarre and chaotic 36 hours in Russia feels like the beginning of the end for Kremlin leader
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-25 | by ( Nick Paton Walsh | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

These were 36 hours that provided a glimpse of the end of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s rule. Two hours earlier, Wagner were at the gates of the capital (almost), and then suddenly everything is forgiven. Did he accept entering the capital would leave his men vulnerable, even to a weak Russian military response? While on the surface, Prigozhin’s climbdown makes him appear weak, even finished, he has been the decision-maker over the past 36 hours. The most optimistic assessment you could make is that Russian military morale must have felt a hiccup while watching its commander-in-chief and most prominent military figure engage in a 24-hour game of chicken.

Persons: Vladimir Putin’s, Prigozhin, Alexander Lukashenko, Putin, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Dmitry Peskov, Wagner, climbdown, he’s, didn’t, Putin’s, – Organizations: CNN, Kremlin, Justice, NATO, NATO – Locations: Moscow, Belarus, Minsk, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Iran, Russia, Russian

And they clearly had little interest in helping Mr. Putin avoid a major, embarrassing fracturing of his support. While it is not clear exactly when the United States first learned of the plot, intelligence officials conducted briefings on Wednesday with administration and defense officials. Placing Wagner forces under the control of Mr. Shoigu was “out of the question” for Mr. Prigozhin, Ms. Stanovaya said. But it was only in recent days that intelligence officials got the initial warnings that Mr. Prigozhin might take action. President Biden, speaking in October, talked of the dangers that Mr. Putin would pose if he felt cornered and said the United States was looking for “off ramps” for Mr. Putin.

Persons: Yevgeny Prigozhin, Wagner, Prigozhin, Vladimir V, Putin, Mr, Prigozhin’s, “, ”, Sergei K, Valery Gerasimov, Wagner ., Tatiana Stanovaya, Shoigu, Stanovaya, Gerasimov, Biden, Donald J, Trump Organizations: Wagner Group, United, CNN, United States, Russian Defense Ministry Press Service, Associated Press, Intelligence, Russian, Ukrainian, Mr, Ministry of Defense, Defense Ministry, Carnegie Endowment, International Locations: Rostov, Don, Russia, United States, Ukraine, St . Petersburg, Moscow, Belarus, United, U.S, Russian, Bakhmut, Wagner . Russia

And they clearly had little interest in helping Mr. Putin avoid a major, embarrassing fracturing of his support. While it is not clear exactly when the United States first learned of the plot, intelligence officials conducted briefings on Wednesday with administration and defense officials. Still, American officials concluded that Mr. Prigozhin’s public statements were not controlled by Mr. Putin. But it was only in recent days that intelligence officials got the initial warnings that Mr. Prigozhin might take action. President Biden, speaking in October, talked of the dangers that Mr. Putin would pose if he felt cornered and said the United States was looking for “off ramps” for Mr. Putin.

☆ Russia’s State Media Blamed Prigozhin, But Some Criticism of Putin Surfaced
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-25 | by ( Neil Macfarquhar | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

“Armed mutiny in Russia is not supported by the society,” said Dmitry Kiselyov, the anchor and senior Kremlin propagandist whose program — Vesti Nedelu or “News of the Week” — sets the tone for the government monopoly on broadcast news. “Treason in the time of war is a grave crime.”The newscast then showed in full Mr. Putin’s vehement, 5-minute speech from Saturday morning, in which he accused Mr. Prigozhin, without mentioning his name, of stabbing Russia in the back. Within hours of that address, the vows that Mr. Prigozhin would face criminal prosecution for his actions had evaporated. All news outlets carried the statement from Dmitri S. Peskov, the presidential spokesman, who broke the dramatic tension by announcing a behind-the-scenes deal credited to President Aleksandr G. Lukashenko of neighboring Belarus. In exchange for standing down, Mr. Prigozhin was granted safe passage out of the country and his troops were forgiven.

Persons: Yevgeny V, ”, Dmitry Kiselyov, Putin’s, Prigozhin, Dmitri S, Aleksandr G, Lukashenko Organizations: Kremlin Locations: Moscow, Russia, Belarus

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