The unprecedented challenge to Russian President Vladimir Putin by Wagner fighters, according to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, has shown new “cracks” in the strength of his leadership that may take weeks or months to manifest.
In a series of television interviews, Blinken and members of the U.S. Congress claimed that the unrest in Russia on Saturday had weakened Putin in ways that could help Ukraine’s counteroffensive against Russian forces on its soil and be advantageous to Russia’s neighbors, including Poland and the Baltic states.
Blinken stated that the tensions that prompted the move had been building for months and that the possibility of domestic upheaval could have an impact on Moscow’s military capabilities in Ukraine.
Blinken described the turmoil as an “internal matter” for Putin.
U.S. officials expect to learn more soon about the events that unfolded in Russia, including details of the deal with Prigozhin mediated by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko that led Wagner fighters to return to their bases.
“It may be that Putin didn’t want to debase himself to the level of negotiating directly with Prigozhin,” Blinken said.
Forces led by Prigozhin, a former Putin ally and ex-convict, have fought the bloodiest of battles in Russia’s 16-month war in Ukraine.
Meanwhile U.S House of Representatives Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Turner said Putin’s future actions in Ukraine could be inhibited by Prigozhin’s assertion that the rationale for invading Ukraine was based on lies.
Similarly, retired U.S. Air Force General Philip Breedlove, former head of U.S. European Command, said the turmoil demonstrates a degradation of Russian capabilities.
