Explainer
Wagner rebellion: Where are Yevgeny Prigozhin, General Surovikin and Dmitry Medvedev?
Are shadowy moves taking place behind the walls of the Kremlin? Questions abound after the aborted march on Moscow, and a number of key Russian figures are unaccounted for.
Michael Drummond
Foreign news reporter @MikeRDrummond
Saturday 1 July 2023 00:21, UK
Listen to this article
0:00 / 4:32
1X
BeyondWords
Audio created using AI assistance
Sergei Surovikin, Yevgeny Prigozhin and Dmitry Medvedev
Image:
Where are Sergei Surovikin, Yevgeny Prigozhin and Dmitry Medvedev?
Why you can trust Sky News
A week has now passed since Yevgeny Prigozhin’s aborted armed rebellion against Moscow erupted. So where is the Wagner chief now? What about Dmitry Medvedev?
Vladimir Putin survived the mutiny by Wagner Group fighters, but experts say his grip on power is now weakened. And a lot of questions remain unanswered.
Are shadowy moves and countermoves playing out behind the walls of the Kremlin? Are people manoeuvring in an unseen struggle for power?
Nuclear plant move ‘may show Putin knows Russia vulnerable’ – Ukraine war latest updates
What’s more, a number of key figures are still unaccounted for following Prigozhin’s failed power grab last weekend.
Yevgeny Prigozhin – Wagner boss… and new Belarus resident?
The hotdog vendor-turned-prison recruiter was allowed to go and live in Belarus and receive amnesty, along with his troops.
Well, according to the Kremlin that is. Confusion remains over whether he will face a criminal case for his defiance of Putin.
So where is he? A private jet linked to Prigozhin landed in the Belarusian capital, Minsk, on Wednesday morning.
And Aleksandr Lukashenko, president of Belarus and a Putin ally, did say this week Prigozhin is in the country.
However, his exact whereabouts are likely to remain unclear.
Yevgeny Prigozhin poses for selfies as he leaves Rostov Pic: AP
Image:
Yevgeny Prigozhin poses for selfies as he leaves Rostov. Pic: AP
Earlier this week, Prigozhin did break his silence in an 11-minute clip in which he defended his so-called “march for justice”.
“We started our march because of an injustice,” he said.
But explaining why the advance was abandoned, Prigozhin said he did not want to shed Russian blood – and insisted that he had no intention of overthrowing the government.
Prigozhin also insisted that he is still receiving words of support from civilians – and some of his fighters were greeted with flags.
Read more:
Russia ‘cutting numbers’ at Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant
Ukraine has recaptured land held by Russia since 2014, UK says
General Sergei Surovikin, the deputy commander of Russia’s forces in Ukraine
Image:
General Sergei Surovikin, the deputy commander of Russia’s forces in Ukraine
General Sergei Surovikin – has Russia’s ‘savage’ commander been arrested?
Regarded as a Soviet hero for his service in Afghanistan, Surovikin is now at the centre of questions over his whereabouts – and his allegiance.
Nicknamed “General Armageddon” by the Russian press for his aggressive tactics in the Syrian conflict, Surovikin has been serving as deputy commander of Russian forces in Ukraine.
As Prigozhin’s uprising unfolded, he called out to Wagner’s fighters telling them to return to base and obey Vladimir Putin.
A New York Times report, based on a US intelligence briefing, said on Tuesday he had advance knowledge of the mutiny and that Russian authorities were checking if he was complicit.
Now he is believed to have been detained, the Associated Press is reporting.
The White House and the Kremlin declined to comment.
It’s not clear whether Surovikin faces any charges or where he is being held, reflecting the opaque world of the Kremlin’s politics and uncertainty after the revolt.
Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman and the head of the United Russia party Dmitry Medvedev
Pic:AP
Image:
Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev. Pic: AP
Dmitry Medvedev – A sunny getaway in Oman?
The former Russian president has been among the most vocal supporters of the war in Ukraine, regularly making bold threats against the West.
During the Wagner march on Moscow, Medvedev warned of the risk of nuclear weapons falling into the mercenary group’s hands.
“The history of mankind hasn’t yet seen the largest arsenal of nuclear weapons under control by bandits,” he said.
“Such a crisis will not be limited by just one country’s borders, the world will be put on the brink of destruction.”
Medvedev is believed to have travelled to Oman in the aftermath of the crisis, but it remains unclear why.
He has not posted publicly on his Telegram for several days. In his last post, on Saturday, 24 June, he said the “most important thing” was to defeat “the external and internal enemy”.
“Split and betrayal – the path to the greatest tragedy, a universal catastrophe. We won’t allow it. The enemy will be defeated! Victory will be ours!”
