He who cooks poison tastes it... This is exactly what happened when the leader of “Wagner” declared a rebellion against the authorities in Moscow. His ally Putin called it a stab in the back, while Western media outlets rushed their reporting and let their imaginations run wild. Indeed, they went so far as to make errors, sometimes even misleading their audience.
In fact, so Western broadcasters, among them some who occupy prominent positions on the global media map, published reports that verged on fiction. “President Putin fled” after Wagner forces began marching towards Moscow. Some channels even showed trenches being dug and roads being blocked to hinder the progress of the advancing Wagner forces after stressing that President Putin had “fled.”
The manner in which the media addressed the Wagner mutiny was ridiculous. Indeed, the hysteria even got to some political analysts, who had been misled into becoming a choir of laughing fools. However, this “mutiny” they found hilarious lasted no more than 24 hours, ending before anything worth noting was achieved. All that it did was expose the unprofessional media outlets that rushed to mislead and weave events together instead of sticking to accurate and credible reporting.
The Wagner militia has no more than twenty thousand members; how could it possibly occupy Moscow, whose traffic police could have put an end to the Wagner rebellion? Moreover, despite their ferocity, its forces could not have achieved anything without the air and artillery support provided by the Russian army forces. Thus, they would have been exposed to airstrikes in a march on Moscow, and the air force would have wiped them out before the Moscow traffic police could get involved.
The leader of the Wagner militia, Yevgeny Prigozhin, threatened Moscow: “Anyone who tries to resist us will be considered a threat, and we will kill him immediately.” He raises many questions, especially given the Kremlin’s silence when Prigozhin was making fiery statements that went as far as making threats. His tirades culminated with the declaration of a “mutiny” against Moscow and threatening to attack it.
The most consequential question remains: Did the president’s cook really turn or rebel? Prigozhin accused the Russian army of attacking Wagner forces, which killed a “massive” number of its forces. And he vowed to launch an attack on the Russian Ministry of Defense that, he claimed, had refused Wagner’s requests for enough ammunition to fight. The Russian Ministry of Defense had demanded that Wagner fighters sign contracts with the Russian Ministry of Defense directly; Prigozhin refused.
In an unprecedented escalation that came less than 24 hours after the Wagner rebellion and President Putin calling the Wagner coup a stab in the back, the Russian Prosecutor General summoned Prigozhin for questioning. The latter was “accused” of crimes tied to Russian national security, although Wagner built influence on Moscow’s behalf in various conflict zones around the world. So, is it time to do away with the Wagner model, or is this all nothing more than a
theatrical play whose chapters were written by the man in the Kremlin to prelude to changes to the guards and the security top brass at the Kremlin?
Indeed, the Kremlin was not attacked at any point between the era of the Tsars and the era of the Bolsheviks. It also remained out of reach with the establishment of the Russian Federation until, that is, one of its major domes was recently almost brought down by a drone. This drone attack exposed the unprecedented deficiencies of the air defenses protecting the symbol of Russian power through the Ages, raising questions about internal disloyalty. Could a betrayal have enabled the drones to fly over the Kremlin before being shot down by the Kremlin’s defenses, saving face to an extent?
Before Prigozhin announced his mutiny against the authorities in Moscow, especially the Ministry of Defense, whose relationship with him was strained for a while, he had been dubbed a “hero” for the progress he had made in the Ukraine war. Today, meanwhile, he is accused of treason on the streets of Russia.
The rebellion is over. Prigozhin is going into exile or a luxurious life of retirement in Belarus, which mediated the deal that ended the Wagner rebellion.
Whatever truly happened - whether it was mutiny and betrayal or a play directed by Putin to facilitate future changes in the Russian Ministry of Defense - the Ukrainians will be the ones to benefit from Wagner’s exit from the war. This is the case despite the stupidity with which the Western media has reported and analyzed the shortest mutiny in history.
