Cancer rumours, wigs and mysteries surround the fate of the missing Wagnerian king Yevgeny Prigozhin, while five ominous theories suggest that the rebellious madman is dead.
Vladimir Putin he may have gotten rid of his old dog for turning on his master while the soldier remains silent and his whereabouts unknown weeks after his defection.
4
4
Speculations about the future of Prigozhin it’s too much when the Kremlin talks about distractions while remaining silent about the position of the great Wagner.
Information and sources point to his demise – including former head of the US Army Robert Abrams announcing that the rebel will no longer appear in public.
Pictures of Prigozhin a violent rebellion was blown up after a painful, but unknown fight with Putin – ending the incredible 24 hours that saw Wagner’s troops arrive within 125 miles of the capital.
As Russia was about to be brought to a climax, the fault lines in the dictator’s rule were exposed for all to see.
Now, it appears that Putin is studying his security, consolidating his power and seemingly eliminating weak links.
In the fall of Prigozhin’s “coup” that was dismissed, the fate of thousands of Wagner soldiers and their hammer-wielding leader is shrouded in mystery.
“We don’t know how this is going,” Keir Giles, a Russian security expert at Chatham House, told The Sun.
He also quoted Winston Churchill’s famous line that looking at Russian politics “is like fighting a bulldog under the rug”.
If Prigozhin is pardoned for his crimes, it “reveals a deep confusion and conflict within the apparatus of the Russian government that leaves Putin extremely vulnerable,” Giles said.
Kremlin hotshots are mysteriously and systematically disappeared – Fear-mongering Putin’s purge is done, and time may be enough for all rebels.
Getting rid of unnecessary or scandalous things is “normal” for Putin’s government, Giles said.
His inner circle is “often” removed “but they can start again, perhaps from a place where they can no longer oppose Putin.”
Giles said Prigozhin – who had “nothing to lose” – would have lost everything if Putin followed through on his promise to “punish” the Wagner rebel.
It comes as a photo of Prigozhin in his underwear circulated on Telegram that led to the soldier’s whereabouts.
The photo, which was shared by a Ukrainian channel, shows Wagner’s boss in a military tent but it is not clear when or where he was taken – adding to the mystery surrounding his fate.
The conflicting reports said that he was taken on June 12 before Prigozhin failed to win while others said that he was taken a month later in Osipovichi in Belarus.
1. Ex-US General is said to be dead or in prison
Former head of the US Army Robert Abrams announced this week that Prigozhin had no future – and said that he did not believe that he was alive.
The retired official said: “My guess is that we will never see Prigozhin in public again.”
“I think he’s probably going to hide him, or he’ll be sent to prison, or he’ll be helped in some way, but I doubt we’ll ever see him again,” he told ABC News.
When asked if he was alive, Abrams replied: “I personally don’t think he is, and if he is, he’s in prison somewhere.”
The Kremlin is currently showing no interest in his position – saying it has neither the “ability” nor the “desire” to follow his lead.
2. Putin insists Wagner Group ‘does not exist’
On Friday, the Russian leader insisted that Wagner – a powerful military force that does its bidding around the world – does not exist.
He told the Russian newspaper Kommersant: “But Wagner is not there.”
It comes just weeks after a series of dramatic, but short-lived, riots that rocked his reign.
“There is no law on special forces. There is none,” Putin said.
The shocking statement also fueled speculation that the Russian dictator was secretly reporting the death of the group’s leader.
Keir Giles sees it as Putin’s attempt to “reinvigorate” and restore the narrative.
“They want to go back to the myth that Wagner is not Russian, to go back to the Russian comfort zone of black and white and white and black,” he told The Sun.
3. The “fake” meeting between Putin and Prigozhin
Among the contradictions of Putin’s friends this week, the most surprising was the backroom meeting between Putin and Prigozhin at the end of last month.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov announced that Putin had held secret talks with Prigozhin on June 29 – just five days after the attack.
This surprise shows that instead of going to Belarus according to his actions, he was welcomed back into the decorated halls of the Kremlin.
Peskov said 35 people were invited to a three-hour meeting with Prigozhin, including senior military officers in his death squad, as they discussed the reasons for the rebellion.
At the meeting, it is believed that Putin gave an “evaluation” of Wagner Group’s efforts in Bakhmut and rebellion.
It was also shockingly reported that Putin ordered his former friend to “return Volodymyr Zelensky‘the head’.
If true, it suggests that Putin made a shameful U-turn after accusing Prigozhin of being a “traitor”.
However, no pictures of the said meeting were published.
And experts doubted what was said at the crisis meeting, including General Adams who doubted its veracity.
“I would be surprised if we will actually see the evidence of the life that Putin met with Prigozhin. I think it is very organized,” he said.
Meanwhile, Keir Giles told The Sun “It looks like it’s not going to happen”.
However, he added: “But the whole escape was not suspicious, it’s another surreal twist that we’ve seen before, even more impossible than what happened before.”
4. The great Wagner ‘has cancer’
Kremlin supporters also said that warmonger cancer diagnosis maybe it made him decide to set up what he called the “justice march”.
Sources said that Prigozhin faced “many years of medicine” in the womb cancer before going into remission.
One former Wagner mercenary said he had “nothing to lose” when he clashed with his former friend Putin last month.
An anonymous source said: “This is a man who has been disemboweled!”
During the FSB attacked Prigozhin’s mansion in St Petersburg earlier this month, it was found similar to his cancer treatment.
One of many passports found out he was in the name of “Dmitry Geiler”, who was a “Super VIP” patient at a private hospital connected to Putin.
Medical equipment was also found in the group, leading people to believe they were receiving cancer treatment at home.
5. Two officials allied with Prigozhin were killed
As Mr. Putin tries to end the freeze on business as usual, there seems to be a rumbling behind the despot’s Kremlin.
And now they fear that Prigozhin could be the next in a long line of purges.
General SERGEY Surovikin – famous for it ruthless behavior – has not been since 24 June amid rumors that he knew about Prigozhin’s plans.
The former commander of the Russian army in Ukraine – known as General Armageddon – is feared dead after he disappeared for almost three weeks and missed his wife’s birthday.
Shortly after Surovikin released an unusual video calling for the army to end its rebellion last month, various reports said he had been arrested and was being questioned.
Rumors of the warlord had already known about Wagner’s plot to remove top Russian military leaders – which was confirmed by US intelligence.
Surovikin is believed to be close to General Wagner, who has enthusiastically praised him in public as Russia’s most experienced general.
“Surovikin is a famous man, he was born to serve the Nation faithfully,” Prigozhin said last October.
Adding fuel to the fire, Andrei Kartapolov, head of Russia’s defense committee, said that Surovikin “is resting now, he is not available at the moment”.
Next in Putin’s firing line for revenge is said to be Deputy Defense Minister Yevkurov.
In a brief attack, a The great shame was captured by the winner Prigozhin along with his Battle HQ, which was taken without firing a single shot.
The UK Ministry of Defense said that Yevkurov was it doesn’t exist from the appearance on the video of the Russian military leadership.
And in addition to the attack, Prigozhin’s sworn enemy General Gerasimov also disappeared.
The Chief of the General Staff disappeared sometime after Wagner’s lightning coup, although he recently reappeared in the army’s HQ.
Rybar Channel, a popular Russian military blog written by former military translator Mikhail Zvinchuk, said Gerasimov is now “not related to military activities”.
Teplinskiy is described as a “de facto administrator [military] work”, according to the Moscow Times.
While Prigozhin’s future remains unclear, Russia’s Defense Ministry said Wagner was handing over its weapons to the Russian military.
Videos appeared to show Wagner’s army marching into Russia – 19 days later he was expelled from Moscow.
4