“An armed force is roaming southern Russia and demanding recognition from the state authorities.

Keir Giles, a senior consulting fellow at Chatham House’s Russia and Eurasia programme, also said that Prigozhin and his forces “are in no position to challenge Putin’s grip on power directly, even if they wanted to”, but warned they were successfully exposing “the weakness of that group”. He’s not a politician.”ĭr Miron suggested an earlier Telegram message from the Wagner Group stating that there would “soon be a new Russian President” could be to drum up media attention and build Prigozhin’s reputation. He’s much more into kind of the military side of things.

In his videos, all his criticism is directed towards the Ministry of Defence. “I don’t think that he would try to go after the king, so to speak. “I had that hunch for a while that he’s not going to go for Putin, and he’s not going to try backstab Putin because Putin has the FSB (Federal Security Service) on his side, so Putin has enough power to crush Prigozhin I think. “I think what Prigozhin might be aiming for is to be the next Defence Minister. But in reality, it’s against the Ministry of Defence,” she told i. “Many are saying this is a military coup against Putin. But he was probably right about one thing: ‘Russia’s future is at stake’.”ĭr Marina Miron, a researcher at King’s College London, suggested Prigozhin might have his sights set on the position of Russian Defence Minister, rather than President. That said, Putin still has more in the tank: he’s spent 14-odd years protecting Russia from a colour revolution. After 24 years, this is the first direct challenge to his authority – even if both protagonists are not calling each other by name. He did not look confident and he did not reassure. “Putin’s speech clearly showed he was rattled. But the rump of the military that does remain loyal will try to soften up Wagner as it approaches,” he said. Moscow’s defences are bracing themselves. “Prigozhin may find some support in the Russian military, especially considering the ease with which he took Rostov, but he has none in Moscow, among the elite. But James Nixey, director of the Russia and Eurasia Programme at Chatham House, said that Prigozhin was “not Russia’s next president”.

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