MOSCOW – «Well said, Ramzan. You are great ». The unusual endorsement of the mercenary leader Wagner Evgeny Prigozhin against the Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov it wouldn’t have been accidental. Nor their very hard simultaneous attacks against the army for the «retreat to more advantageous positions» from Lyman. The two are allegedly plotting to overthrow the defense minister Sergey Shojgu and replace it with Aleksej Djumincurrent governor of Tula and former “bodyguard” of Vladimir Putin, as well as his papable successor. A “game of thrones” anything but dystopian that is intertwined with the race for the succession of the Kremlin leader himself who, on the eve of his 70th birthday, is facing the most serious challenge in a quarter of a century to power. How much the machination of the strange couple of the Chechen and the “chef” can succeed is to be seen.
Moscow mistakenly reveals the defeat. And the plot against Shoigu appears
by our correspondent Fabio Tonacci
Kadyrov and Prigozhin are the “men to keep an eye on”, agree various Russian sources, the most radical exponents of the so-called “war party” that calls for an escalation in Ukraine. They have three things in common: they have “private armies”, they owe everything to the president, and they are fighting with Shoigu. Ramzan Kadyrov, 45, is “Putin’s hound”, his “foot soldier”. He rules the Chechnya as a fiefdom. It enjoys unlimited autonomy and funds in exchange for stability in the former rebel republic. His men, the kadyrovtsy, are a paramilitary militia under his command. Evgeny Prigozhin, 61, on the other hand, is the man of dirty work. He was an obscure restaurateur with a criminal past before the president decided to contract out the Kremlin catering for him after a dinner at his restaurant. Hence the nickname of “Putin’s chef”. And also the millionaire contracts that led him to the head of the “troll factory” in St. Petersburg and the company of ignite Wagner. For years he had denied paternity until the claim a few days ago following a video in which he recruits prisoners.
Russia, Kadyrov and Prigozhin: the strange couple plotting to overthrow Shoigu
by our correspondent Rosalba Castelletti
When the Defense admitted the “withdrawal” from Lyman, Kadyrov and Prigozhin launched into harsh invectives against the army. And it wasn’t the first time. A complicity sign of a collusion, according to Andrey Pertsevanalyst of Carnegie Politics with excellent sources al Kremlin. They both have unfinished business with Shoigu. Last June, the Defense informed Kadyrov that it will create new military formations in Chechnya that respond to Moscow, no longer to him. While, according to the newsletter The Bell, Shoigu cut Prigozhin’s contracts from 27 billion rubles (452 million euros) in 2015 to just over a billion (1.6 million) and what’s more, he is late with payments. The duo would therefore have sought the consent of the former praetorian Aleksej Djumin, veteran of the FSO (the President’s Federal Protection Service) and former deputy minister of defense who would have led the special forces during the annexation of the Crimea before being appointed governor of Tula in an attempt, it is said, to bring him closer to the people in view of a future succession in the Kremlin. According to Pertsev’s sources, Djumin would aspire to return to Defense, but instead of Shoigu. And Kadyrov and Prigozhin would have nothing to gain from it. Djumin would also be an assurance on their future. If Putin really indicated him as his dolphin, the Chechen and the chef would continue to enjoy favors even in the hypothesis of a rotation in the Kremlin.
Ramzan Kadyrov, who is the Chechen leader who wants the atomic bomb and sends his three underage children to war
by the foreign editorial staff
The chances of the change of seats being successful, Pertsev warns, however, are not very high, although it is being discussed. Replacing Shoigu in the middle of the offensive would mean admitting failures on the ground. And Putin is careful. Yesterday, among other things, the Kremlin promoted Kadyrov to the rank of colonel general, the third highest rank in the Russian military hierarchy, but distanced itself from Prigozhin. He is “only a Russian citizen,” the spokesman said Dmitry Peskov. And Putin took advantage of a video meeting with a group of teachers to brush up on a chapter of history made memorable by The Captain’s Daughter of Pushkin: the revolt against Catherine the Great of Emeljan Pugaciov, ended up executed in Red Square. “He thought he was the Tsar,” he said. “He was an element of weakness of the central authority.” A cryptic allusion to be deciphered. Only one thing is certain. Even in Putin’s Game of Thrones, you win or die. Pugachev teaches.