Russians didn't rush to defend Putin. Is the president losing his iron grip?
CBC
When Russian President Vladimir Putin gave a short address to the nation Monday night, his first remarks since a negotiated end to the weekend's violent rebellion, he was visibly angry as he spoke of national betrayal.
While he didn't mention Yevgeny Prigozhin by name, his target was clear. So is the narrative that is being pushed by the government and the popular television channels under its control.
Their message is that Putin needed to strike a deal with Prigozhin to avoid more bloodshed, and that the decision to negotiate with a man he labelled a traitor was made by a pragmatic leader, not a threatened one.
In a country that reveres its military, the fighters are seen as national heroes by a large part of the population.
"They are elite troops. So being too harsh on Prigozhin might not be in Russia's interest," said Anna Matveeva, a senior visiting research fellow with King's College London.
In Putin's speech, he praised Russian citizens for their patriotism and civic solidarity, but over the weekend as a Wagner convoy travelled hundreds of kilometres toward Moscow, shooting down Russian aircraft on the way, there was no strong show of support for the president on the street.
Instead, crowds gathered around the Wagner fighters in the southwest city of Rostov-on-Don, giving them food and water and cheering them on as they left.
In an interview with CBC News, she said that Russian authorities are pursuing two strategies when it comes to the problem of Prigozhin, who launched a mutiny targeting Russia's top military brass.
He has been labelled a criminal, but she says he is ultimately recognized as a valuable asset.
"The other strategy is that he is a bastard, but he's our bastard and we need to keep him as our ally."
Russia has relied heavily on Wagner fighters in Ukraine, where thousands of them were reportedly killed while seizing ground in Bakhmut in May.
After it was announced on Saturday that Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko brokered a deal that saw Prigozhin end his violent revolt in exchange for criminal charges being dropped and exile in Belarus, the Wagner fighters reportedly returned to basecamp.
It's unclear whether that means bases in Russia or positions in Ukraine.
In his speech, Putin told the fighters they could either sign contracts with the Ministry of Defence, or head to Belarus.
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