Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of the Wagner Group, has threatened to overthrow the military establishment in Moscow over its handling of the conflict and the subsequent agreement to put an end to the uprising. Former CNN Moscow bureau chief Jill Dougherty said that although Putin has instructed Prigozhin to travel to Belarus, he “doesn’t forgive traitors.”
Dougherty said, in an interview with US news outlet CNN on Saturday, “Even though Putin has told Prigozhin to go to Belarus, according to the Kremlin, the Wagner chief remains a ‘traitor’.”
She described the current position as a “real dilemma,” claiming that Prigozhin is a menace and that Putin doesn’t pardon traitors.
“Putin won’t ever forgive it, in my opinion. It is, in my opinion, a serious conundrum because Prigozhin poses a danger as long as he continues to behave in this manner and receives assistance of some kind. No matter where he is,” she continued.
Dougherty, however, said that the unrest on Rostov’s streets did not portray Putin as the strongman leader he has positioned himself to be. “Putin seems to be quite frail. Putin would be concerned about those Rostov residents who are applauding the Wagner group as they depart, she added.
She went on to question whether Russians support those who are seeking to overthrow the government, implying that they could support them or be similar to them. Whatever it is, Putin is in for some terrible news.
On Saturday, Prigozhin promised to “go to the end” to depose the country’s Russian military authorities. He reversed course, however, and headed back to their base camps from Rostov-on-Don in Russia as part of a Belarusian-mediated agreement that saw Russia withdraw its allegations against Wagner’s commander for armed rebellion.
Due to their prior service to Russia, the warriors who took part in the coup would not face any punishment, according to Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, who announced on Saturday that the criminal prosecution against Prigozhin for armed mutiny will be abandoned.
