The scale of Vladimir Putin’s humiliation in stopping the dramatic coup bid became clear today, after his substantial losses were revealed.
The dictator suffered his worst daily air force losses since invading Ukraine as rebel Wagner fighters repeatedly hit his strike helicopters and a high-flying military plane suspected to be carrying a top general. These were Russians killing Russians.
Putin is also facing the humbling expectation to replace his top two war commanders – close ally defence minister Sergei Shoigu and chief of the army staff general Valery Gerasmivov – or face a new insurrection.
Coup leader Yevgeny Prigozhin, once a Putin loyalist, has agreed to be based across the border in Belarus – for now.
Out of jail, and free to run his large mercenary army, he still poses an acute threat to the 70-year-old Russian president.
A desperate quick-fix deal saw Progozhin’s Wagner heavily armed force halt their march on Moscow in return for a deal that drops all treason charges against him and his men.
It avoided a potential Russian v Russian bloodbath at the gates of Moscow. Yet Putin has never seemed so weak in almost a quarter of a century at the helm of Russia as president or premier.
It became clear today that he had suffered grievous losses as he sought to halt the Wagner “march of justice” against his corrupt regime towards Moscow.
The Russians are today seeking to cover up the losses of up to 39 pilots and crew in a few hours. They included some of Russia’s leading air force crew members with one account saying 20-plus combat pilots were killed.
Putin lost six helicopters – including three Mi-8 MTPRs specialising in electronic warfare – as well as a sophisticated Il-22 plane used to conduct battle plans at high altitudes, it is now believed.
The Ilyushin-22 appears to have been shot down by a Pantsir missile system secretly supplied to Wagner by Russia’s own forces.
At first the aircraft was identified as an Il-18 turboprop plane, and it likely used such markings – but was in fact an Il-22 used for secretive command and control missions in wartime.
Ten crew were on board, according to Russian Channel One correspondent Irina Kuksenkova.
It is likely a “high ranking general” and other top brass were on board, revealed the former Soviet military tactician and politician Viktor Alksnis, now an analyst known as the Black Colonel.
But he indicated the death toll was almost certainly higher, amid reports that the Russian state media has been ordered to obscure the true figure.
“I assume that the total number of cabin crew and task force on board the Il-22 ranged from 15 to 20 people. They all died,” he posted.
Putin also lost a regular Mi-8, a Ka-52 strike helicopter and an Mi-35.
“As a result of the destruction of five helicopters and one aircraft by the Wagner rebels between 34 to 39 people were killed,” estimated Alksnis.
Some 19 of these were in the five downed helicopters, he made clear. More damage was done in a day than the Ukrainians have managed in the war.
“It should be noted that our Aerospace Forces did not suffer such losses even in the most difficult days of the special military operation in Ukraine,” said the Black Colonel.
All the losses were caused by Russia’s Wagner forces shooting down Russia’s regular forces – yet under the terms of the patched-up peace deal no-one will be prosecuted.
The bloody fiasco can only benefit Ukraine.
As part of the hasty peace deal between Putin and Prigozhin – brokered by Belarus tyrant Alexander Lukashenko – the billionaire Wagner chief will pay compensation of almost half a million pounds to the families of the slain Russian airmen.
As recriminations sounded today, Telegram channel Fighterbomber – with almost 400,000 followers – demanded: “Which idiot with big stars on his shoulder straps ordered a transfer of the Pantsir air defence system to an illegal armed group [Wagner], a gang…?
“Will this idiot go to a military tribunal?”
Putin and his top commanders “gave birth to this monster [Prigozhin] and now they are trying to fight it”.
By today, no details of the dead aircrew were revealed and Moscow was apparently engaged in a campaign to keep their names secret.
Hours after saying the coup leaders including Prigozhin would suffer “inevitable punishment” he revealed that no-one would suffer sanctions over the insurrection.
“There was a higher goal: to avoid bloodshed, to avoid internal confrontation, to avoid clashes with unpredictable results,” said his spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
Highways used by tens of thousands of Wagner troops marching on Moscow yesterday remained closed today.
