Opinion
Wagner boss
The die is cast – the last rebellion of Yevgeny Prigozhin
Yevgeny Prigozhin tries to save his life with a coup against Russia
© DPA
It had been clear for weeks that Yevgeny Prigozhin was a dead man. Above all himself. A military coup is his attempt to save his life – and to take revenge.
Yevgeny Prigozhin has been walking on the edge of a knife for months. Now he dropped the dice. Once Caesar crossed the Rubicon, there was no turning back for him. He marched on Rome. Now Prigozhin is marching on Moscow. There will be no turning back for him either.
The leader of the Wagner mercenaries puts everything on one card – in a desperate attempt to save his life. De facto, Prigozhin had the choice of either waiting for his death or, in a final act of rebellion, making a exit with loud fanfares. He chose the latter – and seeks revenge on his old master.
Prigozhin owes its wealth to one man: Vladimir Putin
Everything that Prigozhin is and has he owes to one man: Vladimir Putin. Its billions, its power, its so-called private army – which has never been one, but always took orders from the Kremlin. And Prigozhin served his master faithfully for many years, doing his dirty work all over the world – until the servant was no longer content to live in the shadows.
Prigozhin wanted more, much more: recognition, fame, prestige and executive power. Prigozhin wanted to see fear in the eyes of the Russian military, who had always despised him. But Putin sided with the military in the power struggle between the Russian armed forces and Prigozhin.
His order for Wagner’s troops to submit to the Ministry of Defense was tantamount to a death sentence for Prigozhin. Who is Prigozhin without his fighters? A nobody. Who would soon have met the same end as the numerous separatist leaders for whom Putin no longer had any use. They died in weird car accidents, were shot in the head, or, as they say in Russia, accidentally fell out of a window.
Prigozhin knows only too well what is in store for him. He himself will have pushed one or the other man who has become unlovable out of the window. And so he prefers to go with a big bang. But desperation breeds danger. How dangerous, Putin himself demonstrated when he addressed the Russian nation on Saturday morning. Putin can already smell the smoke from Rostov in Moscow.