Yevgeny Prigozhin, the founder and head of the Russian “private military company” called “Wagner,” and several of his comrades-in-arms were killed in highly suspicious circumstances. The private plane of Prigozhin crashed in the Tver region while making the Moscow-Petersburg flight. To put it mildly, that event is perceived as a chain of illegalities, indicating a severe crisis in the Russian state. Let’s start with the fact that the state cannot have a “private army” in a purely formal sense, even under Russian law, “Wagner” was an illegal armed group.
The right to legitimate violence is given only to the state; private individuals have no right to it. Arming a gang led by someone with a criminal record, allowing it to acquire weapons, and then allowing that gang to recruit fighters from among convicts is bordering on insanity.
Of course, there were both business and political interests here. Under the “sign” of Prigogine, Russia carried out economic activities, particularly in Africa. The media empire of the same businessman, which also included the “troll factory,” served the government’s interests, inflaming the population’s aggressive, ultra-nationalist passions.
“Wagner members” also fought in Ukraine, distinguished by exceptional brutality. At some point in June of this year, Prigozhin felt like an independent politician and challenged Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu. The conflict escalated into an actual military riot. On June 23, Prigozhin’s convoys, armed with heavy equipment and anti-aircraft defenses, moved to Moscow on the so-called “march of justice.”
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The Russian “private military company” destroyed one plane and six helicopters of the Russian regular army, and 15 servicemen were killed. Putin called Prigogine’s actions “treason.” A criminal case was initiated against the “Wagner”.
Prigozhin’s troops had reached the Lipetsk region without significant resistance, finding themselves about 300 kilometers from Moscow. It, however, was followed by a rather unexpected twist. At Alexander Lukashenko’s mediation, Prigozhin refused further advances and agreed to move his armed group to Belarus. The criminal case was dismissed. Moreover, instead of facing the court, the “Wagner members” were received in the Kremlin and conversed peacefully with the Russian President.
But did Putin forgive them?
If everything were to develop according to the scenario of classical Eastern dictatorships, Prigogine’s wine should have been poisoned at that reception, and he would have, so to speak, “been out of the picture.” I think that if the operation had been carried out by the institution that raised Putin, something similar would have happened.
But remember that the “Wagner” killed 15 Russian army soldiers. Some sources claim that a C-300 missile shot Prigozhin’s plane down… It is a lesson for all of us, also for Armenia. When a dictator rules a country, and the legal mechanisms do not work, anything is possible.
Aram ABRAHAMYAN
