Two months after Yevgeny Prigozhin led his mercenaries in an armed mutiny against Russia’s military leadership, the head of the Wagner Group appeared to be in Africa. The on-again, off-again Putin ally was back to his old ways of using social media to further the Russian cause.
In the video, translated by Reuters, Prigozhin said, “The temperature is +50, everything as we like. The Wagner PMC makes Russia even greater on all continents, and Africa — more free. Justice and happiness for the African people. We’re making life a nightmare for ISIS and al-Qaeda and other bandits.”
[The fact that he’s still alive *anywhere* is remarkable. A number of people who just expressed opposition to Putin have fallen victim to all manners of untimely death, especially what my friend likes to call “defenestroika” or what I call the Moscow Window Flu. Why is Putin allowing a mutiny leader to live, and not just live but still have access to his own mercenaries? Either Putin is much weaker than we think, or Prigozhin has something so valuable that Putin’s willing to let things slide. It’s curious, to say the least, but note that Prigozhin has wisely put some distance between himself and his patron. — Ed]
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