Wagner mercenary group boss, Yevgeny Prigozhin, who led the short lived mutiny in Russia is likely either dead or jailed, and his much-publicized meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin after his botched rebellion was probably faked, according to a former senior US military leader.
Retired Gen. Robert Abrams, who previously served as the commander of US Forces Korea, shared his thoughts on Prigozhin’s uncertain fate in the aftermath of the Wagner Group’s short-lived armed insurrection last month.
Asked if he thought Prighozin was alive after posing the most significant challenge to Putin’s regime since he came to power in 1999, Abrams said: “I personally don’t think he is, and if he is, he’s in a prison somewhere.”
The retired four-star general also raised doubts about a meeting that, according to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, Putin held with Prigozhin and all his senior Wagner commanders on June 29, five days after the aborted mutiny.
Other senior members of Putin’s administration, including the head of the national guard, Viktor Zolotov, and SVR Foreign Intelligence boss Sergei Naryshkin were also said to be present, reported the French newspaper Liberation.
Peskov said Putin gave his “assessment” of the Wagner Group’s actions during the war in Ukraine, in which they led the bloody fight to capture the city of Bakhmut, and also “of the events of June 24” — referring to the day of the mutiny.
“I’d be surprised if we actually see proof of life that Putin met with Prigozhin, and I think it’s highly staged,” Abrams said.
Putin also “listened to the explanations of the commanders and offered them options for further employment and further use in combat,” according to the Kremlin spokesman.
“The commanders themselves presented their version of what happened. They stressed that they are staunch supporters and soldiers of the head of state and the commander-in-chief, and also said that they are ready to continue to fight for their homeland,” Peskov said. “That is all we can say about this meeting.”
Yevgeny Prigozhin posed the most significant challenge to Putin’s regime since he came to power in 1999.
Prigozhin, 62, who had been publicly feuding with Russia’s top military brass, including Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, over their handling of the war in Ukraine, led his fighters in a rebellion that saw them seize control of the city of Rostov-on-Don.
Prigozhin then ordered his forces to march toward Moscow, but he abruptly changed his mind after Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko hastily brokered a truce between the mercenary chief and the Kremlin.
Under the agreement, Prigozhin would be spared charges of treason if he agreed to go into exile in Belarus, but Lukashenko said last week that Prigozhin was back in Russia.
Prigozhin’s current whereabouts and future plans remain unknown.
