‘Putin Has Won But After 23 Years At The Top, He Does Not Lack Enemies’

NEW DELHI: The mutiny by the Wagner Group in Russia was short lived, sputtering to an end about 48 hours after it was launched. It was not a coup directed against Vladimir Putin, says Nandan Unnikrishnan, Head of Russia Studies at the ORF think tank in Delhi, but the result of grievances stemming from the war in Ukraine. In a chat on The Gist, Unnikrishnan argues that while Wagner Group head Yevgeny Prigozhin’s grievances may have been valid, it may have also been the result of the key role his group played in the capture of Bakhmut and Soledar. But with 30,000 odd troops at his command, Prigozhin could not in any way have been able to take on the entire Russian military. His march on Moscow was called off midway yesterday after Belarus President Lukashenko intervened and mediated a settlement. Prigozhin gets sanctuary in Belarus and no action is being taken against his men. Putin has triumphed but the mutiny will give cause for his many enemies to perhaps rethink their strategy. Tune in for more in this talk with Nandan Unnikrishnan.