Prigozhin's Attempted Mutiny Against Russia Is The Beginning Of The Endgame For Putin, Says Expert

On Saturday, Yevgeny Prigozhin, leader of the Wagner Group, declared that he had reached an agreement to withdraw his mercenary forces in Russia to prevent additional bloodshed. The Wagner militia had advanced perilously close to Moscow before the deal was made. 

Still, the attempted mutiny that undermined Vladimir Putin's authority could mark the commencement of the Russian leader's downfall, according to political scientist Mark Galeotti. Galeotti wrote in The Sunday Times that the endgame for the Russian president has started.

"Putin may be talking tough now, but it was his failure to act in a timely way to control Prigozhin (or remove Shoigu and Gerasimov) that has led to this crisis," Galeotti wrote. "Putin seems likely to defuse or defeat this specific challenge, but will still take what may in the long term prove to be a mortal wound."

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Mick Ryan, a retired major general in the Australian military and fellow for the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told Insider that Prigozhin's mutiny will have "short, medium, and longer-term impacts" on the war in Ukraine as well as on Russia's future.

"Putin's authority has been challenged openly, and he hasn't come out looking very good," Ryan said. 

"Putin is a fairly vindictive individual. My sense is Prigozhin probably shouldn't be booking accommodation in a retirement home, you know," Ryan added. "I think his days, on the balance of probabilities, are probably limited."

Under the deal agreed upon by Prigozhin and announced by Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, Prigozhin will go to neighboring Belarus, which has supported Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the Associated Press reported.

In exchange for Prigozhin's exile to Belarus, the Russian government won't prosecute the mercenary leader nor the Wagners fighter who took part in the attempted mutiny.  

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