Dn his crazy “Ukrainian campaign”, Commander-in-Chief Vladimir Putin has just suffered a second defeat. This time, from the hands of a mercenary leader he trusted. The image of the Russian president abroad comes out weakened, among his closest friends and at the worst time for him.
The first failure dates back to the very beginning of the Russian assault on kyiv, in February-March 2022, when Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, galvanizing his fellow citizens, saved his capital. The following months saw the Ukrainian army “hold” and even repel that of the Russian aggressor. Putin’s reputation as a warlord at the head of a military machine presented as one of the most efficient in the world has been somewhat discredited.
The second defeat is more political than military. It takes place in Russian territory, in these days of June 23 and 24, when the soldiery of Wagner challenged the power of the Kremlin. Creation of Putin, the most prominent mercenary leader on the Ukrainian front, Evgueni Prigojine, launching a column of armored vehicles on Moscow, made his godfather tremble for a few hours. Apparent motive: to obtain changes at the top of the military hierarchy and the stopping of a plan to dismantle Wagner.
The Russian capital was scared, and Putin raised the specter of civil war. The negotiated outcome of the crisis may, however, work in its favour: little blood has flowed between Russians. Wagner and the army only clashed for a few hours. The Kremlin is busy today imposing the scenario of a return to normality. But, on the outside, the damage is done.
Demolition of the official national narrative
Putin’s profile as the infallible boss of an omnipotent state emerges cracked from the Prigojine episode. Forced by self-control, the Russian president has always endeavored to cultivate his reputation as the guarantor of the stability of the world’s leading nuclear power. This image is achieved.
As much as the raid of his tanks, it was Prigojine’s words that caught the attention. He demolished the official national narrative about the causes of the war in Ukraine. He denied the Putinian refrain hammered out night after night on television. ” No “said Prigozhin, NATO was not preparing to attack Russia from kyiv; ” No “I’“special operation” was not in self-defence; ” No “the Russian-speaking populations of the Donbass were not the subject of a “genocide”.
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