Since the June 24 mutiny by 62-year-old Wagner Group mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, the U.S. and foreign press has gone wild speculating on whether it represented a wider coup attempt inside the Kremlin. Sources feeding the U.S. press seek to print fake stories about a wider conspiracy in the Kremlin to topple 70-year-old Russian President Vladimir Putin, considered a persona non grata in Kiev and Washington. Sources of wider conspiracy inside the Kremlin to topple Putin stem from 37-year-old Kyrylo Budanov, Ukraine’s Minister of Military Intelligence. Budanov controls the Ukraine War narrative, never admitting defeat or losses only highlighting Ukraine victories in the 16-month-long war. Budanov functions like Baghdad Bob, former Saddam Hussein’s propaganda minister, spreading whatever lies suited the 2003 Iraq War.
Budanov has spread constant rumors about Putin suffering from a terminal illness and that the Russian military was close to collapse, running out of personnel and weapons to fight the Ukraine War. Budanov, with orders from 45-year-old President Volodymyr Zelensky, denies that Putin has seized some 25% of Ukraine’s sovereign territory in 16 months of war. Budanov only says how much ground Ukraine has recaptured from Russia, even if it’s a matter of inches or feet. Now Budanov has fed the Western press everything it craves about Putin, that the long-awaited Kremlin coup has begun or at least has been uncovered. Gen. Sergey Surovikin, formerly Russia’s head of the Ukraine War, is nowhere to be found after Prigozhin’s June 24 mutiny. Prigozhin, fresh off casualties from Russian air force, said he was turning his 25,000-man Wagner Group mercenary militia toward Moscow.
Hours later, Prigozhin’s did a sudden about face, retreating the army back to military bases in Ukraine. Then in a new twist on June 24, Prigozhin said he accepted a plea deal with Putin, exiling him to Belarus in exchange for dropping treason charges against him and his militia. Suroovikin had special ties to Wagner Group, supervising Prigozhin’s months-long battle in Bakhmut against Kiev’s forces. New York Times reported June 26 the Suroovikin had advance knowledge of Prigozhin’s failed coup, leaving him a key Kremlin suspect in the failed mutiny attempt. Times sources, largely from Ukraine’s Budanov, say the Surovikin worked with Prigoszhin on a plan to march on Moscow to terminate the command of 68-eyar-old Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu with whom he was feuding for months. Prigozhin complained he wasn’t receiving adequate supplies.
Putin finds himself in the same place as 70-year0old Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan enouontered a July 15-16, 2018 failed coup in Istanbul. Erdogan blamed exiled Turkish cleric Fetullah Gulan, currently exiled in Pennsylvania’s Pocono Mountains. All the press reports of a wider possible coup have left Putin and his closest lieutenants purging the Russian military ranks. Russia’s Defense Ministry told the Moscow Times that Surrovikin was under house arrest for plotting with Prigozhin for a possible coup. Another unnamed Russian military blogger confirmed reports that Surovikin was taken into Russian custody for coordinating the Prigozhin. Whatever information about the June 24 allege coup, it’s difficult to determine whether it comes from Budanov’s personal computer, spreading disinformation and propaganda at a furious pace.
Also gone missing in 67-year-old Russian Gen. Sergei Gerasimov who commanded Russian troops in Ukraine. Whether Gerasimov is under house arrest hasn’t been confirmed by Russian Defense Ministry, though other options aren’t yet known. Gerasimov replaced Surrovikin Jan. 11 as head of Ukraine military operations but Surrovikin stayed on as Gerasamov’s deputy in command of Russian Ukraine forces. Whatever happens with the Russian military, it’s clear Putin is purging the ranks after Prigozhin’s failed coup raised questions of a broader conspiracy. Whether there was any actual threat to Putin or not, Surovikin and Gerasimov’s arrest suggests that a wider conspiracy existed to topple Putin’s government. President Joe Biden, 80, said June 28 that the U.S. had nothing to do with Prigozhin’s failed coup attempt, raising more questions than it answered.
Aftter Preigozhin’s failed June 24 coup, Putin go wind that two of his top generals may have had advance knowledge, signaling a mutiny in the works. Since then, Putin has purged the ranks, leaving Gen. Sergei Surovikin and Gen. Velry Gerasimov unaccounted for, probably under house arrest. Arresting two top generals proves Putin is every bit in control of whatever conspiracy existed between Prigozhin and Putin’s top Russian generals. Whether other Russian generals and top brass were involved in a wider conspiracy is anyone’s guess. What’s known for sure is that Putin deals with Ukrainian disinformation and propaganda stemming from Budanvo’s Kiev office. Once a conspiracy was detected, it’s difficult for Putin to trust anyone, certainly not hi former generals. Watching Surovikin and Gerasimov disappear indicates that Putin’s latest purge continues to go on.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.
