Yevgeny V. Prigozhin, the founder and leader of the Russian paramilitary Wagner Group, has started to fight against the Kremlin. Furious at the mismanagement of the war in Ukraine, he has raised billboards in and around Moscow, recruiting troops for his private army.
The number of red and black billboards showing the colors of the Wagner group has increased exponentially over the course of this month. They depict menacing-looking mercenaries in balaclavas and masks with the caption, “Join the team of victors!”. It implies that the soldiers in the Russian army that fought in President Vladimir Putin’s reckless war in against Ukraine were the “losers”.
Prigozhin has taken advantage of Putin’s fear of division and rebellion, leading his tanks down through the streets of Moscow. Such scenes recall the instability of the 1990s when the USSR dissolved, and Putin emerged from the K.G.B. to become a president promising stability. Since then, over the past 23 years, Putin has used his power to foment nationalism. He built an autocratic police state with a starkly unequal economy that builds around a select few oligarchs, to the point where dissent against his rule is a crime.
Now the tension is growing in Russia as the conflict between Prigozhin and Putin escalates, while Prigozhin rants against the incompetence of the Russian generals. The government has gone through great efforts to maintain the illusion of orderliness and “business as usual.” Now, however, the illusion barely masks the unease that many citizens feel about the worsening rivalry between Putin and Prigozhin.
Citizens are uncertain about what will happen to Mr. Prigozhin and the Wagner Group. If the family of a child who drew a Ukrainian flag is threatened with prison, what will happen to a radical who threatens to overthrow Putin?
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/25/world/europe/russia-putin-prigozhin-wagner-ukraine.html
The number of red and black billboards showing the colors of the Wagner group has increased exponentially over the course of this month. They depict menacing-looking mercenaries in balaclavas and masks with the caption, “Join the team of victors!”. It implies that the soldiers in the Russian army that fought in President Vladimir Putin’s reckless war in against Ukraine were the “losers”.
Prigozhin has taken advantage of Putin’s fear of division and rebellion, leading his tanks down through the streets of Moscow. Such scenes recall the instability of the 1990s when the USSR dissolved, and Putin emerged from the K.G.B. to become a president promising stability. Since then, over the past 23 years, Putin has used his power to foment nationalism. He built an autocratic police state with a starkly unequal economy that builds around a select few oligarchs, to the point where dissent against his rule is a crime.
Now the tension is growing in Russia as the conflict between Prigozhin and Putin escalates, while Prigozhin rants against the incompetence of the Russian generals. The government has gone through great efforts to maintain the illusion of orderliness and “business as usual.” Now, however, the illusion barely masks the unease that many citizens feel about the worsening rivalry between Putin and Prigozhin.
Citizens are uncertain about what will happen to Mr. Prigozhin and the Wagner Group. If the family of a child who drew a Ukrainian flag is threatened with prison, what will happen to a radical who threatens to overthrow Putin?
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/25/world/europe/russia-putin-prigozhin-wagner-ukraine.html