Russia’s army, FSB create party of ‘dignified surrender’ – political expert Piontkovsky

He expressed this opinion on the Espreso TV channel. 

"In my opinion, all serious people in Russia have realised that the war is lost and are looking for different ways out. Putin and his entourage are looking for a dignified draw. They send various peacekeepers to persuade Ukraine to end the war. Then part of the Ukrainian territory remains in Russian hands - Putin sells it to his people as a dignified draw," Piontkovsky explained.

The political analyst believes that part of Russia's military and political elite is preparing to surrender in the war.

"However, more and more people in power, including the army and the FSB, understand that this is impossible: neither Ukraine nor the West will agree to a dignified draw. I would call this 'party' the party of dignified surrender. They launched this Prigozhin march to show the world, society, the army and Putin himself the limits of his power. The march was successful in the sense that Putin's power has been completely discredited. And we can see the massive reaction around the world," he added.

Prigozhin's mutiny, agreements with Lukashenko and departure to Belarus

For several months, there has been a conflict between Yevgeny Prigozhin, the financier of Wagner PMC, and the Russian Ministry of Defense. However, the situation escalated quickly on the evening of June 23.

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.

The militants entered several regions and moved towards the Russian capital, while at the entrance to Moscow they built firing points, dug trenches and mobilised all security forces.

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.

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 drop the criminal case against him.

On June 26, Putin gave a speech in which he offered the Wagner PMC fighters three options for future actions: join the Russian Defense Forces, go to Belarus with other PMC members, or return to their families.

On June 27, the Federal Security Service of Russia announced that it dropped the criminal case related to the armed plot, in which Wagner PMC leader Yevgeny Prigozhin was involved.

On the same day, the self-proclaimed President of Belarus confirmed the arrival of Yevgeny Prigozhin in the country. According to him, the Wagner mercenaries who arrived with him would not guard the Russian tactical nuclear weapons stationed there.

On June 29, a satellite recorded the construction of a tent camp near Asipovichy in the Mogilev region of Belarus, and on July 3, Russian media published a photo of an alleged Wagner camp.

On July 11, the Belarusian Ministry of Defense stated that the Wagner mercenaries would train the Belarusian army.

On July 14, media reported that training sessions with units of the territorial troops were taking place near Asipovichy (Belarus), where Wagner PMC fighters were acting as instructors in some military disciplines.

On July 15, a large Wagner PMC convoy arrived in Belarus.