Putin Tries to Reassert Control After Rebellion

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Hey everyone!

Elton John raised the roof on Sunday night in what could be his last performance ever. More than seven million viewers reportedly tuned in on the BBC to watch the 3+ hour performance. That’s almost triple the number that tuned in when Paul McCartney headlined last year, and makes it one of the most-watched TV shows of the year so far.

Is he finally saying goodbye to the Yellow Brick Road? If so, what a way to go out!

Mosheh, Jill, & Courtney

🗞 KEY QUESTIONS AFTER THE REBELLION

After a tumultuous weekend, Russia and Western allies are still trying to assess what the short-lived rebellion means and what comes next.

Unanswered questions: 1) The long-term future for Putin’s authoritarian rule, 2) Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin’s exact whereabouts and what happens to his thousands of heavily armed troops, and 3) Details of the agreement that ended the rebellion, including why Putin let Prigozhin leave the country.

One thing we know for sure: None of the key players in this power struggle have been strengthened by it.

HE SAID / HE SAID
Prigozhin and the Russian President each spoke out Monday for the first time since the revolt, trying to spin their narratives to their nation and the world.

• In an audio message, Prigozhin defended his actions, insisting his aim was not out to overthrow the government, but to protest the way he felt the Wagner Group was being mistreated and abused by the Russian military. He tried to spin his weekend mutiny as altruistic, with the goal of showcasing Russia’s weaknesses and replacing certain incompetent leaders.

• He reiterated his reason for abruptly aborting his mission before reaching Moscow was to avoid killing Russian soldiers (beyond the 13 airmen his mercenaries already killed Saturday.)

• Prigozhin said a key issue what Russia’s recent demand that Wagner Group come under direct military control. He maintained that his troops must stay independent, and he was willing to nearly go to Moscow with his tanks to prove that.

• In a short address, Putin shot right back, saying the rebels betrayed Russia, but also offered Wagner mercenaries the chance to either now pledge allegiance to the Russian military or flee to Belarus.

  • Putin: “They wanted Russians to fight each other…They rubbed their hands, dreaming of taking revenge for their failures at the front and during the so-called counteroffensive. But they miscalculated.”

  • Either way, it appears the Wagner Group’s days of fighting independently and pursuing Russian interests around the globe are numbered.

PUTIN’S DISAPPEARING RIVALS
As foreign policy expert Ian Bremmer put it, many believe that Prigozhin is now a “dead man walking.” He certainly wouldn't be the first person who died under suspicious circumstances after crossing Putin. A few examples:

• 2015: Boris Nemtsov, who led massive protests of the 2011 parliamentary election results and wrote reports about corruption

• 2013: Boris Berezovsky, who accused the Kremlin of killing a former intelligence officer and whistleblower

• 2009: Stanislav Markelov and Anastasia Baburova, a human rights lawyer and a journalist critical of Putin, respectively

• 2009: Sergei Magnitsky, who uncovered evidence suggesting Russian police officials were behind a massive tax fraud case

• 2009: Natalia Estemirova, a journalist investigating increasing abductions and murders in Chechnya, a republic of Russia

• 2006: Anna Politkovskaya, a Russian reporter who accused Putin of turning the country into a police state

• 2006: Alexander Litvinenko, a vocal critic of the Russian Federal Security Service after leaving the agency, which was run by Putin

• 2003: Sergei Yushenkov, a former army colonel who was gathering evidence he believed proved Putin’s government was behind one of the apartment bombings in 1999

PRIGOZHIN’S FATE
Prigozhin’s future is unclear. So are his confirmed whereabouts.

In an attempt to reassert its control, the Kremlin said Monday that Prigozhin is still under criminal investigation, a direct contradiction from its weekend statement that a criminal case against him would be dropped.

He maintains a base of support among not only his fighters, but also from Russians who admire his courage for taking a stand against the country’s corruption. The fact that there was such disregard for Putin’s rule as the Wagner forces made their way to Moscow on Saturday is a clear sign of a pent-up hunger for change after more than two decades.

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🗓 ON THIS DAY: JUNE 27

• 1844: Religious founder of Mormonism and the Latter Day Saint movement Joseph Smith was killed by a mob. Smith claimed in 1823 that he had been visited by a Christian angel named Moroni who spoke to him of an ancient text that had been lost for 1,500 years. During the next several years, Smith dictated an English translation of this text to his wife and other scribes, finally publishing the Book of Mormon in 1830.

• 1924: Lena Springs becomes first American woman to have her name placed into nomination for VP of the US at a major-party convention. She received several votes at the 1924 Democratic National Convention.

• 1927: U.S. Marines officially adopt the bulldog as their mascot, an ode to their tenacious fighting during WWI.