Was that it for Shoigu? His successor would be ready Four more years of reign for conservatives in Greece

Since the armed uprising of the Wagner mercenaries in Russia, there are many rumors about his personal data: Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu. Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigoshin held him primarily responsible for the many Russian setbacks and losses in the war in Ukraine – at the start of his uprising on the Friday night, he went even further.

He accused Shoigu of misleading the public about the real reasons for the war. That Ukraine is aggressive and wants to attack Russia together with NATO is a lie. Instead, Shoigu was only concerned with becoming a Marshal and getting a second Hero Medal.

Lots of speculation in the media

When Prigozhin subsequently broke the uprising on Saturday afternoon and concluded an agreement, questions quickly arose as to what he could have been promised in return – apart from impunity. One guess: Shoigu could be impeached as defense minister.

The Kremlin quickly denied this: a change at the top of the ministry was not part of the agreement. Moreover, only Russian President Vladimir Putin can make such a decision. However, the Russian investigative portal “rucriminal.info” reported on Sunday, citing an unspecified source, that Shoigu had been arrested.

Accordingly, Shoigu would be “in seclusion under the supervision of a personal guard”. The background is an investigation by the FSB secret service into alleged corruption allegations. These would relate to “massive embezzlements” within the Ministry of Defence. Other media are already speculating about a possible successor to Schoigus.

Confidant of Prigozhin as Defense Minister?

Alexei Dyumin is very popular. He is the current governor of the Tula region, former security officer of Putin, former head of Russian special forces – and confidant of Prigozhin. Military expert Marcus Keupp writes on Twitter: “That’s no coincidence.” This would allow Prigozhin to determine “in principle” “who gets first access to the resources of the Defense Ministry”.

On the other hand, political scientist and founder of the R.Politik analysis center, Tatyana Stanovaya, does not believe that Prigozhin could make demands, such as Shoigu’s resignation. “If that happens, then for some other reason,” she writes on Twitter.

None of these rumors have been confirmed – and the Kremlin is trying to counter them. The government has now released a video of Shoigu. The 47-second silent clip, which shows Shoigu conferring with other military officers, was allegedly recorded during a visit to the combat zone in Ukraine, the Russian defense ministry said on Telegram. The minister visited one of the front command posts there. It is unclear where the video comes from.

Max Seddon, head of the Moscow bureau of the Financial Times, notes: “Russian state media shows Shoigu walking around pointing at things, apparently to show that everything is normal. But it certainly isn’t.”

Russian military bloggers also doubt whether the photos are up to date. For example, the well-known blogger Rybar writes on his Telegram channel: “The work trip of Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu to the group “West” seems to have taken place (at least sources both from the field and from headquarters say) before the unrest started. »

There was no public trace of Schoigu this weekend. Russia’s Chief of Staff, Valeri Gerasimov, did not comment during these chaotic hours. Prigozhin had also sharply criticized him. A substitution of the two would be considered a major win for him.

(dpa, t-online, cck)