There’s been more than enough time for intelligence agencies to get to the bottom of who sparked the mutiny against Russia inside the Wagner group; although there’s definitely a lot of speculation.
However, this “coup” may have been more of a distraction. It’s highly likely that it was orchestrated by Western agencies, seeing as Prigozhin, who is now missing, has been found to have been in contact with Ukrainian military intelligence.
Reports show this coup has been in the works for the past six months, if not longer.
During this time, the Wagner group leader continuously made false accusations against the Russian military, from the debunked claims he wasn’t getting enough ammunition to his suspicion that corrupt army leadership is impeding the progress of the war in Ukraine.
Much to Putin’s dismay, Prigozhin was playing both sides of the table the entire time.
He’d been meeting with Ukrainian officials ever since January, including one of his trips to Africa, where he held a meeting with high-ranking Ukrainian officials.
Things only get worse from here on out, though. There are also reports of him trying to get other Russian units under his wing, which would have made this “coup” look much more believable.
Everything lines up perfectly. If you look at the timing of some of Prigozhin’s comments against Russian military officials, you’ll find they’re uncomfortably close to the dates he’s believed to have met with Ukrainian intelligence officials.
This outlines the possibility of Prigozhin becoming a national traitor, rather than “going rogue” as the media is trying to present the story.
Of course, there’s also the fact that his providing NATO with precise locations of Russian troops is intel that NATO forces already had; the US is also well-aware of their strategic placement.
With this in mind, it’s more than likely that Prigozhin was nothing more than bait, a scapegoat of sorts to make Putin look better. He’s been facing some serious political opposition in recent times, partially due to the war and his deteriorating health.
By shutting down a “coup,” he can present himself as the capable leader he once was and continue his onslaught on Ukraine with the support of his people.
Originally, Prigozhin claimed the coup was a response to the Defense Ministry and Putin’s lies to the Russian people, but it didn’t take long for him to change his opinion.
In fact, only a few days later, Prigozhin switched up his story, stating the attempted “coup” was nothing more than a protest and was in no way an attempt at overthrowing the Russian government.
That being said, his location remains unknown. It’s more than likely that Putin disposed of him the only way he knows how. We’ll just have to wait and see where he turns up in a couple of months.