President’s power is crumbling: After the Wagner revolt, “Putin has lost his reputation as the toughest man in the city”

During the Wagner uprising, leadership by the Russian president appears to have been lacking for a long time. Putin is said to have hesitated to take any tough action against his longtime ally Prigozhin. Now the power and reputation of the Russian ruler are crumbling.

Russian President Vladimir Putin appeared to be paralyzed and paralyzed Attempted putsch by the Wagner mercenary group . The Washington Post reports, citing Ukrainian and European security officials.

Accordingly, Putin was warned at least days in advance, according to intelligence information available to the Washington Post. “Putin had time to make the decision to crush the uprising and arrest the organizers,” said one of the European security officials, speaking on condition of anonymity to the Washington Post.

As a result, preparatory measures had been taken, such as increasing the number of personnel in the Presidential Guard, and more weapons had been issued. Despite the early warning, Putin on the day of the attempted coup but did not act decisively and no orders were issued for most of the day, officials said.

After the Wagner revolt, “Putin lost his reputation as the toughest man in town”

This ties in with statements by CIA Director William J. Burns last week that Russian security services, the military and decision-makers were “apparently disoriented” during the 36 hours of the mutiny. “When it started, there was paralysis on all levels,” the European security official is quoted as saying.

According to European security officials, in the absence of orders from the top Kremlin, local officials were free to decide how to proceed when Yevgeny Prigozhin’s Wagner troops entered the southern Russian city of Rostov in the early hours of June 24.

“Russia is a mafia-style country, and Putin made an unforgivable mistake,” says a top Moscow financier with ties to Russian intelligence. “He’s lost his reputation as the toughest man in town.”

“From our point of view, this is the biggest sign of the dysfunctional power structure in Russia. The authoritarian system is designed in such a way that people do nothing without a clear command from the leadership. When the leadership is in turmoil and disorder, the situation at the local level is the same and even worse,” a Ukrainian security official told The Washington Post.

Putin was reluctant to crack down on his longtime ally Prigozhin

Apparently, Putin was reluctant to take any tough action against his longtime ally Prigozhin and his troops. Prigozhin also seems to have supporters in the Kremlin.

Wagner troops seized control of the Russian military’s main command center in Rostov, almost unopposed, and then advanced into the city of Voronezh before continuing north toward Moscow.

According to a high-ranking NATO official, some important people in Moscow were apparently prepared to support Prigozhin. “There appear to be high-level people in the power structure who have been waiting for this because if his attempt had been successful, they would have joined the plot,” the official said. Other supporters of Putin, on the other hand, were angry and surprised at the inaction.

According to his critics, the lack of leadership from the Kremlin during the crisis has significantly weakened Putin. “Putin has shown himself to be incapable of making quick decisions in critical situations. He was hiding,” says Gennady Gudkov, a former colonel in the Russian security services who now lives in exile as an opposition politician. “Most of the Russian population did not understand that. But Putin’s elite understood it very well. He is no longer the guarantor of their safety and the preservation of the system.”

Further questions and expert content on the topic:

Who is Yevgeny Prigozhin and what influence does he have on Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russian politics?

Why is Prigozhin considered a threat to Putin? What consequences could this relationship have?

Where do the Wagner Group mercenaries come from and what is their goal?

How did the Wagner Group come about and why does Putin allow it to exist even though it is banned in Russia?