The attempted coup led on Saturday by Wagner chief Prigozhin is helping more and more Russians to realise their president is “no longer up to the job”, an expert has said.
Political analyst, author and Russia expert Mark Galeotti noted how Putin “cannot escape the blame” for the crisis sparked by the Wagner Group’s move on Saturday, as he claimed even his advisers had warned him about the danger presented by Prigozhin.
However, Mr Galeotti claimed, the Russian leader “always tries to dodge tough decisions as long as he can, and avoided doing anything about Prigozhin until it was too late”.
This latest crisis, which comes as the Russian economy is being impacted by sanctions and the war in Ukraine is proving to be a costly and bloody venture, may contribute to dent the president’s image, Mr Galeotti said.
In an op-ed for The Sun, the expert wrote: “More and more people are coming to realise that the 70-year-old Putin is no longer up to the job.
“It is no coincidence that he is increasingly known as ‘ded’, the Russian for grandfather.”
As many as 25,000 Wagner Group troops were believed to be stationed in Ukraine prior to the uprising.
While it has been reported some have returned to the Russian-held Ukrainian territories, it isn’t clear what the future of the mercenaries in the conflict may be.
In his speech on Monday, the Russian president gave Wagner soldiers the choice to either go to Belarus with Prigozhin, join the Russian army or return home.
As it is unlikely all the mercenaries will toe the line, the Russian Ministry of Defence may have lost thousands of skilled soldiers to face the Ukrainian counter-offensive.
