The founder of Wagner would be in talks to have more power and give a prominent place to his right arm. But many await the revenge of the “tsar”
Putin, Prigozhin and Utkin (photo Ansa and photogrammi da video)
TiscaliNews
Where is Yevgeny Prigozhin now? The head and founder of Wagner is the man who in no time it destroyed Russian propaganda that portrayed Putin as firmly in charge of an indomitable country and army resisting the rest of the world. And now more background is opening up on the coup that began and ended after a few hours by Wagner’s mercenaries employed by the former “Putin’s cook” who would be in Belarus (but it is not certain) and after being arrived undisturbed 200 kilometers from Moscow while the Russian army did not lift a fingerhas decided to abandon his march on the capital. Reappeared in an 11-minute videoapparently spotted at the Green City Hotel in Mins, Prigozhin gave his version of the dramatic events that shattered the solidity of Putin’s power.
“I didn’t want to overthrow the country”
In the video Prigozhin says that he took Rostov and then began the march towards Moscow to “express a protest” and “not to overthrow the government of the country”. The march was intended to prevent the “destruction” of the private military company and hold “those individuals” who “made a huge number of mistakes in the special military operation” in Ukraine to their accountability, he said. Authorities had decided to dissolve Wagner on July 1 following “intrigue,” Prigozhin said. The possible background of his work remains: did he threaten and initiate the coup because it was paid for by the Western powers and therefore promoted by the USA? Did he do it to behead the leaders of the army, the generals Shoigu and Gerasimov whom he defined as inept who sent the Russians and his mercenaries to slaughter? Does he have the support and funding of the Russian tycoons exhausted by international sanctions and affected in their wealth? Meanwhile, with alleged talks underway with Putin to gain a more prominent role, Prigozhin appears to be paving the way for another mercenary head of the Wagner group and Putin’s former close friend: Dmitry Utkin.
Who is Utkin
Dmitry Utkin is a former GRU officer with discovered Nazi and far-right sympathies the number two of the Wagner and the one who would have led the march of the mercenaries towards Moscow. In 2014, he, as main strategist and military leader, and Prigozhin as founder and financier, created the Wagner group which is said to be inspired by the great German composer later used as a bard by Hitler and Nazism. Of Siberian origin, with Nazi symbols tattooed on his body, a former great friend of Putin, alongside whom he appears smiling in photos and videos, Utkin is a commander of the Russian Spetsnaz corps with which he fights in Syria and participates in the invasion of Ukraine. Other military operations in Libya and other African countries, the Wagner brigade takes shape and stands out for not having half measures in war. Then here it is in Bakmuth’s meat grinder in Ukraine. According to various rumors, he could be given a command post of primary importance in the Russian armed forces, with Prigozhin’s new position, although others say that Putin’s revenge will come on the traitor who dared to challenge him.
Putin’s first speech after the uprising
Il Russian President Vladimir Putin meanwhile appears in the first video speech after the coup attempt by the Wagner group led by Prigozhin. “The Forum brought together young people engineers, scientists, technology experts, university students, graduates and representatives of public organizations from many regions of Russia and some from foreign countries. These people – both young and experienced specialists, our company teams – ensured the stable functioning of Russian industry, its development in the face of serious external challenges. They achieved growth with the production of the most important products for the life of the country, civil and defense products”, the words of the Kremlin leader addressed to the participants and guests of the 11th International Industrial Youth Forum entitled “Engineers of the future – 2023”. But now his next moves are awaited on the military front as well as on that of internal security.