Following a failed mutiny attempt by mercenaries, Russia's top military generals have been absent from the public eye, leading to speculation that they may have supported the rebellion. U.S. officials have said General Valery Gerasimov and General Alexander Surovikin had "advance knowledge" of the plans, though Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has dismissed these reports as "speculation and gossip". President Vladimir Putin is reportedly attempting to reassert his authority, and it is unclear what role the top military generals will play in the future.
Posts tagged as “Eastern Ukraine”
On Tuesday evening, a Russian missile strike on a crowded pizza restaurant in Kramatorsk, Ukraine killed at least nine people, including three children, and injured dozens more. The attack has been condemned by the international community and the Ukrainian government has called for an investigation. Former U.S. ambassador to Russia, Jon Huntsman, believes the attack is a sign of Russian President Vladimir Putin's humiliation and the "final saga" of his rule.
At least ten people, including three children, were killed in a missile attack on a popular pizza restaurant in Kramatorsk, Ukraine on Tuesday evening. The attack has been widely condemned by Ukrainian authorities, and has sparked international outrage. Rescue workers are still searching through the rubble of the destroyed building, and the Ukrainian Ministry of Internal Affairs has arrested a man they believe was involved in directing the missile strike.
Russian President Vladimir Putin thanked the nation for standing together in the face of a short-lived armed rebellion led by Yevgeny Prigozhin and his Wagner mercenary group. Steps were taken to "neutralize the threat" and "avoid a lot of bloodshed," and Putin thanked the government and citizens for rallying behind "the fate of the Fatherland." The rebellion ended with Prigozhin's troops retreating, and Putin emphasized that time was taken to give those who made a mistake a chance to think again and understand their actions.
Russian President Vladimir Putin addressed the nation for the first time since a short-lived armed revolt by the Wagner mercenary group on Saturday. The revolt was led by Yevgeny Prigozhin and focused on Russia's military brass, and President Joe Biden said the US and its allies had strongly communicated to the Kremlin that they were not involved. Putin thanked the Russian people for their support and did not offer any clarity about his planned response to the revolt, which posed the biggest challenge to his rule in more than 20 years.
This article examines the recent armed uprising by the Wagner mercenary group in Russia, led by Yevgeny Prigozhin, which posed a challenge to President Vladimir Putin's rule. Analysts Michael Kofman and Tatiana Stanovaya have provided their own analysis of the incident, with Kofman believing it was an attempt to follow the classic imperial model of a revolt and Stanovaya believing it was an attempt to send a message to the Kremlin. The incident serves as a reminder of the power of the mercenaries and the potential for further unrest in the future.
President Biden and U.S. allies have coordinated a response to the brief uprising in Russia led by the Wagner mercenary group, making clear that they were not involved. The Wagner fighters had seized control of a Russian military headquarters in Rostov-on-Don, but were ordered back to their camps when a truce was announced. Yevgeny Prigozhin, the Wagner group's leader, has not yet been seen to retreat into obscurity, and the consequences of the incident remain to be seen.
On Monday, the ruble reached a 14-month low after an aborted weekend mutiny in Russia led by Yevgeny Prigozhin, the chief of Russia's Wagner mercenary group. The rebellion was ended after the Kremlin made an agreement to send Prigozhin to Belarus, and pardon him and his soldiers, brokered by Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko. Former U.S. director of national intelligence James Clapper said the deal appears "fishy," raising concerns about stability in the nuclear-armed country.