Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu has made his first appearance since Wagner’s attempted takeover of the country. This appearance has been made public through a video, which shows Shoigu flying in a plane with Yevgeny Nikiforov, commander of the Western Military District. Both were listening to reports from a command post run by the Zapad military group in western Russia. The video has no sound, and it is not clear at first glance where and when the visit took place.
The video was published by the country’s Ministry of Defense, in order to show Shoigu’s participation after the Wagner revolt. Separately, the Zvezda Ministry of Defense television channel confirmed that Shoigu was listening to a report from Colonel General Yevgeny Nikiforov on the current situation on the Ukrainian front.
Yevgeny Prigozhin, Wagner’s chief in charge, demanded from where he took control of a military headquarters in southern Russia, that Shoigu and Valery Gerasimov, the Chief of the General Staff, be handed over to him so that he could “restore justice”. Prigozhin accused both men of being incompetent, noting that he had been trying to oust them for a long time.
Gerasimov has not been seen in public since then, and there has been no word from the Kremlin about further personnel changes when he described the deal that ended the revolt. The Kremlin indicated that the issue of personnel changes was the exclusive prerogative of President Vladimir Putin and may have been part of an agreement.
Zvezda commented that during his visit, Shoigu heard about the formation of new reserve forces for the “Zapad” military formation, and highlighted the efficiency of the Russian army in “detecting and destroying enemy military equipment and accumulation of personnel in tactical areas.” Zvezda also said that Shoigu also paid special attention to what he called “the organization of comprehensive support for the troops involved in the Special Military Operation and the creation of conditions for the safe accommodation of personnel.”
Wagner’s mercenaries led by Prigozhin advanced on Moscow on Saturday to crack down on what they called Russia’s “corrupt and incompetent military leadership”, before suddenly returning to a Russian-controlled area in eastern Ukraine after a deal with the Kremlin negotiated by Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko.
The deal, as publicly described by the Kremlin, saw criminal charges against the mutineers dropped in exchange for their return to the camps, noting that Prigozhin would move to Belarus.
