Can Putin use the Wagner mutiny to tighten his grip on power? | DW News

Russia's defense minister, Sergei Shoigu, has appeared in a video released by his ministry for the first time since a mercenary uprising demanded his ouster. According to the video, Shoigu was inspecting troops in Ukraine. He can be seen in the footage flying in a helicopter and then attending a meeting with military officers at a military headquarters, supposedly in Ukraine. The footage has not been independently verified. The head of the Wagner mercenary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, launched an uprising on Friday night and temporarily occupied the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don. He demanded the ouster of Shoigu and Russia's chief of the general staff, Valery Gerasimov, before ending his rebellion late on Saturday.

Walter Feichtinger, the president of the Center for Strategic Analysis in Vienna, told DW that Russian President Vladimir Putin would do anything to restore his image as a "strong leader" after the short-lived Wagner uprising.

"First of all, he has to demonstrate that he is the leader, so the personal environment [around him] can expect some changes," Feichtinger said.

"And in external affairs, especially in the war in Ukraine, he will do everything to put more pressure on the military forces to show and to demonstrate [to] the world and his population 'I'm still in place and we are stronger as we were before,'" he added.

On Monday, Russia's Defense Ministry released footage of Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu for the first time since Wagner forces sought his removal. There has been speculation that Shoigu's removal from office could be part of the Belarus-brokered deal between Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin and Moscow.

But Feichtinger said such an outcome was unlikely, at least in the coming days or weeks, because this would demonstrate that Prigozhin's assessment was right and ultimately hurt Putin's image.

Besides the unrest at home, the latest developments also create a headache for Putin as Wagner fighters were a "very important military tool for Russia," Feichtinger said.

"They are well equipped, they are trained, they are experienced in war fighting ... They have to be under [the] control of the state of Russia," he said.

"Putin is not interested, I can imagine, to lose this very important military tool. So what could be the solution? To have a new leader? To have a new commander instead of Mr. Prigozhin? That is one of the biggest questions. Will Mr. Prigozhin accept that he has no strong role in the future of his mercenaries?"

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#Russia #wagnergroup # SergeiShoigu