The Kremlin pushed the Wagnerites away from the front. However, their head, Yevgeny Prigozhin, is not losing ground.
Russian opposition political scientist Abbas Gallyamov spoke about this for Channel 24.
“Prigozhin receives government contracts. It is clear that the situation is when the fate of the “special military operation” is in his hands. Lately, since December, there has been a tendency to weaken the role of Prigozhin in the media and political part”, – the expert noted.
Prigozhin influences the fate of the regime
The political scientist said that Vladimir Putin brought back Lapin and Gerasimov, whom Prigozhin hates. According to Gallyamov, Putin has taken a number of steps not aimed at supporting Prigozhin. Therefore, we can conclude that the president of the occupiers was disappointed in him.
According to the expert, for six months, until December 2022, the situation was such that Prigozhin looked like the last person on whom everything rests. The Kremlin believed that if it were not for Prigozhin, Russia would have lost the war.
In this situation, no one is ready to refuse Prigozhin a government contract. Any governor, minister, head of any state corporation will not dare to refuse. Everyone understands that the destiny of the regime is in its hands. Prigozhin will continue to grow rich, Gallyamov believes.
Not everyone obeys Prigozhin
The political scientist said that Prigozhin did not manage to find a common language with the governor of St. Petersburg, Alexander Beglov, but came out with the mayor of Moscow, Sergei Sobyanin. Gallyamov believes that it is a matter of both personal communication and financial interests.
“The conflict between Beglov and Prigozhin has been going on for several years. Prigozhin helped Beglov get a position. Beglov has a reputation for not being a very smart person. Before Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine, Prigozhin was not so influential. Beglov decided not to share money with Prigozhin, but to keep everything to himself.” a conflict that grew into personal hostility,” the political scientist said.
Putin has put everything at war
Gallyamov said that now there is no final collapse of Prigozhin, he is fighting and if he manages to prove that he is doing it more effectively than the army, then his shares will soar again.
“Victory is so important for Putin that he can appoint Prigozhin as defense minister as well. You can’t deny this. It seems crazy, but it can at least be functional. Putin put everything on this war,” the political scientist said.
He noted that Prigozhin was reduced in December, because Putin saw that he believed him in vain. It seemed to the Kremlin that there were a lot of screams, but little use, since the Wagnerites at the front show such results as the regular army. invested in Prigozhin, and then began to take. Prigogine is nervous, you can see it. His claims now to Medvedev, now to the Kremlin show that he is looking for the source of the problems. He wants to determine who is turning Putin against him,” the expert said.
However, he noted that Putin allows Prigozhin to criticize the Kremlin, although no one has previously threatened the presidential administration. Gallyamov noted that only Navalny did this, but he is now in prison.
“Prigozhin says that there are American spies in the Kremlin, whom he wants to kill with a sledgehammer. This proves that Prigozhin is still strong,” Gallyamov added.
