Thirteen days and counting – that’s how long it’s been since anyone has seen Yevgeny Prigozhin in public. After he led an armed mutiny up 500 miles of highway toward Moscow two weeks ago, the Kremlin announced that the Wagner Group leader would be permitted to go into exile in Belarus. But on Thursday, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko announced that Prigozhin had flown to Russia. “Yevgeny Prigozhin is in St. Petersburg … Maybe he went to Moscow or some other place. But he is not in Belarus,” he said.
In recent months, Prigozhin has used profane video and audio tirades, published in friendly media channels, to castigate Russia’s military brass. He has since gone quiet, and he hasn’t been photographed in Belarus or made clear his future plans. The Russian government wants us to know it isn’t concerned. “We do not have the desire nor the capability” to track Prigozhin’s movement, a Kremlin spokesman said Thursday.
Imagine you’re a Russian citizen trying to make sense of what has happened since Prigozhin launched his “march for justice” toward Moscow last month. Without naming names, President Putin told you during a televised speech that the mutiny was a “colossal threat” to the country and that its organizers would be “brought to justice.”
Perhaps the Kremlin believes that allowing Mutineer #1 to fly in and out of Russia makes the president look strong and confident. But it’s possible many Russians are as confused as many non-Russians about why an average person can be arrested for passing out anti-war leaflets while Prigozhin isn’t in prison facing charges of treason and mutiny.