Yevgeny Prigozhin, the businessman behind Russia’s Wagner Group mercenaries, is hardly a man to keep a low profile. He is at his loudest and most vitriolic, though, either when he feels he has the upper hand over his (many) enemies or when he is on the ropes. He’s pretty outspoken these days, and no one thinks it’s because he’s winning.
For months, many of the small gains made by the Russians had been thanks to Wagner and its use of expendable soldiers recruited from the prison system. This had given Prigozhin a degree of latitude and license and, true to form, he had used that to prosecute his personal vendettas, against targets ranging from Alexander Beglov, the governor of St Petersburg to, most strikingly, defence minister Sergei Shoigu.
This is a case study in how Putin’s political system of ‘adhocracy’ is translating very badly onto the battlefield
For all the overheated press speculation in some quarters that Prigozhin could be appointed as Shoigu’s successor or, even less plausible, stage a coup, the fact is that he is neither personally close to Vladimir Putin nor possesses of any real allies in the elite. Instead, he is one of the businessmen who have done well for themselves by doing whatever the Kremlin wants done – whether setting up social media troll farms during the 2016 US elections or running mercenaries. As a result, though, he is forever dependent on the regime’s favour.
For months Shoigu essentially weathered Prigozhin’s open attacks, which should have warned the street criminal turned entrepreneur. Shoigu is, after all, an extremely deft operator, whose political career predates Putin’s. One of his defining characteristics is that you rarely see him working his political manoeuvres. In what is the very antithesis of Prigozhin’s bluster, he quietly and carefully sets things up behind the scenes which then seem just to happen.
Since the start of the year, things suddenly seem to have started going wrong for Prigozhin.
Already a subscriber? Log in
Keep reading with a free trial
Subscribe today to get 3 months of unlimited online and app access for only £3.
- Unlimited access to our website and app
- Enjoy Spectator newsletters and podcasts
- Explore our online archive, going back to 1828
Comments
Want to join the debate?
Join the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first 3 months for just £3.
UNLOCK ACCESS 3 months for £3Already a subscriber? Log in