The leader of the Wagner Group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, who stopped an armed rebellion after leading the Wagner Group, a Russian mercenary company, advanced as far as the capital, Moscow, has not been revealed for two days, raising questions surrounding his whereabouts.
On the 25th (local time), the US think tank Institute for Warfare ( ISW ) said in a related report released that day, “Prigozhin’s whereabouts have not been confirmed since he left Rostov-on-Don on the 24th.” According to
ISW , Russian media RTVI claimed that Prigozhin’s public relations agency had told the media that “Prigozhin sent his regards” and that he would answer all questions once normal communication was possible.
Meanwhile, on a famous telegram channel linked to the Wagner Group, an image of Prigogine created by artificial intelligence ( AI ) was uploaded.
The image consisted of Prigogine holding his finger to his lips and saying, “Plans love silence.” It is an exact copy of the phrase used by the Ukrainian military to emphasize military security against the Russian invasion.
Initially, it was announced that Prigozhin had agreed to stop the armed rebellion and seek asylum in Belarus, but some observers said that it would be difficult for him to protect his life from Russian President Vladimir Putin’s reprisal in Belarus, Russia’s best ally.
As such, Prigogine’s disappearance may be an intention to hide himself somewhere until certain safety is secured.
Some speculate that he may have already been removed by Russian authorities, but that seems unlikely. Meanwhile, Meduza
, a Russian opposition-oriented independent media, cited an anonymous source inside the Kremlin Palace and tried to contact the Russian government during the day on the 24th, when Prigozhin began to advance from the Rostov region in southern Russia to Moscow, but President Putin refused to contact him. reported refusing to speak. Since then, Prigozhin seems to have lowered the chances of the rebellion succeeding as the Russian regular army did not appear to actively sympathize with the Wagner group’s armed rebellion. In addition, the Kremlin Palace turned to negotiations involving Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, Russian President Anton Vaino, and Russian Ambassador to Belarus Boris Grizlov, the media reported. In the end, Prigozhin agreed to stop the armed revolt the same afternoon and withdrew his troops from the Rostov and Voronezh regions he had once occupied. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: “The criminal case against Prigozhin will be dropped. He will leave for Belarus.” However, it is unclear whether this has resolved all issues related to the armed rebellion.
Right now, pro-Kremlin military bloggers in Russia are taking issue with the fact that at least 13 soldiers were killed when the Wagner group shot down a Russian air force during the armed rebellion.
Even if there was an agreement to cancel the criminal charges안전놀이터, Prigozhin and the Wagner Group must be held accountable in some way for the deaths of the soldiers.
As if considering that atmosphere, there were also reports that Russian judicial authorities were not immediately dropping the criminal case against Prigozhin.
Russia’s Sputnik news agency and the daily Kommersant reported on the 26th, citing related sources, that the Russian intelligence agency, the Federal Security Service ( FSB ), is continuing the investigation into Prigozhin’s alleged armed rebellion.
However, even if the Russian authorities did not officially drop the investigation into Prigozin, it is still unclear whether the agreement was overturned or merely an administrative delay.
ISW diagnosed that “the aftermath of the Wagner Group armed rebellion is not yet over, and it remains to be seen how the agreement will be implemented and whether all parties involved will fully comply with it.”