Russian President Vladimir Putin. Reuters.
Vladimir Putin is to be blamed for what occurred in Russia, said former US defence secretary Leon Panetta after Kremlin faced a direct military challenge from Wagner group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin.
“Any time there is chaos and instability, any leader faces problems as a result of that. But particularly an autocrat like Putin, who…his basic claim to power is that he controls what’s going on in Russia. And what happened indicates that his control was not there,” Panetta said.
‘Putin paying price for something he created’
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Panetta said that the Russian President is “paying the price for something he created.”
He went on to explain, “Putin is the one who put together the Wagner group…He’s deployed them to Asia, to Africa, to Ukraine, where they’ve committed all kinds of atrocities. And then, when Prigozhin started speaking out and criticising both Putin as well as the Russian military, Putin took no steps really to discipline Prigozhin. So likely the bottom line here is Putin has no one to blame but himself for what occurred in Russia.”
Addressing the nation on Monday, Putin delivered his first public statements since calling Prigozhin’s actions “treasonous” over the weekend.
The Russian president kept a relatively low profile during the turmoil.
Prigozhin led his private mercenaries in an attempted rebellion against the Russia for less than 24 hours before a deal was brokered to avoid bloodshed. In exchange for turning his troops away from Moscow, Prigozhin agreed to leave the country for Belarus.
Since the start of war in February last year, Wagner forces have become a pivotal part of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, especially in fight for the eastern city of Bakhmut. However, Prigozhin gradually became more vocal about his criticism of the Russian military’s performance in Ukraine, particularly attacking Minister of Defense Sergei Shoigu and Chief of Russia’s General Staff Valery Gerasimov.
Nicknamed as “Putin’s chef”, Prigozhin faced little condemnation from the Russian president for his repeated attacks against Kremlin leadership.
With inputs from agencies
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