Moscow: Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu made his first public appearance since a mercenary uprising demanded his ouster, inspecting troops in Ukraine in a video released Monday aimed at projecting a sense of order after the country’s most serious political crisis in decades.
But uncertainty still swirled about his fate, that of rebellion leader Yevgeny Prigozhin and his private army, the impact on the war in Ukraine, and even the political future of President Vladimir Putin.
A feud between Wagner Group leader Prigozhin and Russia’s military brass that has festered throughout the war erupted into a mutiny that saw the mercenaries leave Ukraine to seize a military headquarters in a southern Russian city and march seemingly unopposed for hundreds of miles toward Moscow, before turning around after less than 24 hours on Saturday. The Kremlin said it had made a deal that Prigozhin will move to Belarus and receive an amnesty, along with his soldiers.
There was no confirmation of his whereabouts on Monday, although a popular Russian news channel on Telegram reported that he had been seen at a hotel in the Belarusian capital, Minsk.
Russian media reported a criminal probe against him continued, and some lawmakers called for his head.