Prigozhin is FSB agent tasked with replacing Putin – political analyst

He said this on Espreso TV. 

“Obviously, Prigozhin's rebellion is an attempt to intercept Putin's power, that is, to seize it by another force. It was an attempt by the FSB to remove Putin. We will see whether it was successful in the near future. We need to understand whether Prigozhin's coup will lead to any changes in Russian foreign policy, and if so, what they will be. Then we will understand why the people who tried to remove Putin staged this coup. There are two issues on the agenda: the war in Ukraine and the preparation of a nuclear strike on Eastern Europe. We need to closely monitor whether there will be changes in these two aspects of Russian foreign policy,” Felshtinsky explained.

According to the political scientist, the fact that Putin fled Moscow as soon as it became known that Prigozhin was moving on the Russian capital shows that the Kremlin leader realized that a coup was underway and that some forces were behind Prigozhin.

“The only such force could be the FSB. The former convict Prigozhin got close to Putin. Such a fantastic story could only happen in one case: if Prigozhin had been recruited long ago and became the FSB agent. All of Prigozhin's projects were coordinated with this service, meaning that they were FSB projects. This is exactly how you should look at the Wagner PMC - as the FSB agent who performed certain tasks. Prigozhin's last task in Russia was an attempted coup to overthrow Putin's government. Or maybe he has already been eliminated, we just don't know it,” Felshtinsky suggested.

The mutiny in Russia

The conflict between Wagner PMC financier Yevgeny Prigozhin and the Russian Ministry of Defence continued for several months, but the situation escalated sharply on the evening of 23 June.

Allegedly, Russian troops launched a missile attack on the Wagner base. Yevgeny Prigozhin, the leader of the Wagner PMC, announced a "march of justice" and stated that 25,000 mercenaries were heading to Moscow after the Russian leadership refused to hand over Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov.

On Saturday, June 24, in addition to Rostov-on-Don, where they initially gathered around the headquarters of the Southern Military District, the Wagner group also took control of Voronezh. Their convoys, which had diverted from the Ukrainian border, were moving towards Moscow. Military aircraft and artillery under Shoigu's control attempted to stop them. The units of Wagner PMC were last spotted in the Lipetsk region. In Moscow itself, defensive positions were established, trenches were dug, and all security forces were mobilized.

However, on the evening of June 24, the press service of the self-proclaimed President of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, released a statement in which the head of the Wagner PMC stated that he was ready to stop the advance of his mercenaries' military convoys, which were already approaching Moscow, and to reach an agreement with the Kremlin. Prigozhin allegedly agreed on this during a conversation with Lukashenko.

Instead, Prigozhin announced that the Wagner group had stopped their advance and returned to their field camps before reaching 200 km from Moscow. He stated, "In a day, we covered a long distance, stopping only 200 km away from Moscow. During this time, no blood was shed. However, the moment may come when blood will be spilled. Therefore, taking full responsibility, we are turning our columns around and heading back to the field camps as planned."

Subsequently, Prigozhin and all his fighters left the headquarters of Russia's Southern Military District. Russian leader Vladimir Putin promised that Prigozhin would be able to go to Belarus, and Russia would close the criminal case against him.

Read more on the events here.