Putin seeks to project strong image as military questions linger

MOSCOW: President Vladimir Putin has continued his efforts to reassert his authority and project a sense of business as usual after a Wagner mercenary insurrection threatened his nearly quarter-century rule in Russia.
On Thursday, Putin is scheduled to speak at a forum called “Strong Ideas for a New Time” in Moscow, an annual event whose title has taken on unexpected symbolism after the Wagner leader’s rebellion. Yevgeny PrigozhinThe forces came within 200 kilometers (124 miles) of the capital.
The president returned to Moscow last night from the southern Russian republic of Dagestan, where he held talks with regional officials on promoting tourism development. Saturday’s rebellion was not mentioned, although one official thanked Putin for visiting “at such a difficult time.” Unusually, state television showed Putin mingling with jubilant locals, even kissing a young girl on the head and taking a selfie with her. That contrasts sharply with the Kremlin’s longstanding strict Covid-19 quarantine regime for anyone scheduled to meet Putin to avoid possible infection of the 70-year-old leader.
Despite efforts to portray the crisis as an end, questions persisted about the extent to which elements within the military and security services knew of Prigozhin’s plan to advance on Moscow to oust top Defense Ministry officials.

Sergei Surovikin, a senior general who was repeatedly praised by Prigozhin for his leadership in the war, has not been seen since the end of the rebellion. Putin put Surovikin in charge of the Russian army in Ukraine in October.
He replaced the general as commander-in-chief in January with Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov, one of two men besides Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu that Prigozhin has vowed to oust.
Surovkin was last seen in a video posted on the Defense Ministry’s Telegram channel on Saturday urging Prigozhin and his forces to halt their uprising and “obey the will and order” of the president.

The New York Times reported that Sorovikin knew something about Prigozhin’s plans for the rebellion, citing anonymous US officials who said other Russian generals may have supported the Wagner leader’s attempt to overthrow the Ministry of Defense leadership.
Wagner’s heavily armed forces first took control of the southern city of Rostov-on-Don in Russia, then moved rapidly toward Moscow across 780 kilometers of territory, surrounding army units along the way without much resistance.
Prigozhin only called for a halt to progress after accepting a deal brokered by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko that allowed him to go to the neighboring country after criminal charges against the Wagner founder or his fighters were dropped.
The astonishing chain of events has left the United States, Europe and China scratching their heads about the political ramifications of the rebellion that shattered Putin’s image of invincibility as Russia’s leader. The crisis has highlighted bitter divisions within Russia over the bogged down war in Ukraine that is Europe’s biggest conflict since World War Two, as the Ukrainian counteroffensive continues to try to drive Putin’s forces out of occupied territory.