Kremlin propaganda machine running: Putin tries to cover up his vulnerability Death of actor Julian Sands: Remains were discovered by walkers

On Tuesday afternoon, Russian President Vladimir Putin walked the red carpet down the steps of the Palace of Facets in the Kremlin. Hundreds of soldiers in camouflage have gathered at the spot. He thanks them for “the determination and courage” that they “actually prevented civil war”. It is Putin’s signal of unity, the evocation of “patriotic cohesion”, without which the “fatherland cannot stand in these difficult times”.

The night before, Putin had repositioned after the failed uprising of Yevgeny Prigozhin and his paramilitary group Wagner. He wanted to regain ground that he had lost in such a short time due to Prigozhin’s short-lived rebellion over the weekend, wanted to show in five minutes: “Here I am, I am the legitimate president, I am alive. And I will not let myself be blackmailing.”

Of course Putin chose brown wood panels in other words to sell himself as the keeper of inner peace. He hastened to show that he had all the people and all his apparatus behind him. Aware of the “responsibility for the fate of the fatherland”, “all levels have united”, he said.

The fact that virtually no one in the government – alarmed by the threat looming on Moscow in the form of tanks – publicly supported Putin on Saturday, that no one in the population, who would always be 80 percent behind their president, dared to even the smallest poster on the street à la “Vladimir Vladimirovich, you know we have your back” is not mentioned in the official account full of admiration.

As a rule, the Russian regime does not conduct power struggles in public. But Prigozhin broke with this unwritten rule and shamefully challenged Putin.

In Monday’s speech, Putin renewed his treason accusation but, as on Saturday, did not name Prigozhin. The bloodshed had stopped, Russia’s “enemies” had counted on such a “fratricide”, Ukraine and the West “wanted Russian soldiers to kill each other,” he railed. The version that the West contributed to the uprising is a new twist on the unofficial Moscow.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov had previously spoken in a similar manner, and now state television stations are using this story as well. Putin affirmed that the Wagner fighters had the necessary “love for their homeland” and called on them to sign contracts with the Russian Ministry of Defense, go home or go into exile in Belarus.

What the Kremlin had announced as a “defining speech” (and later claimed it never called it that) was an angry reiteration of what Putin had already said on Saturday when the uprising was in full swing. He was immediately sure of the spot. “Is something wrong with my line, is there something else coming?” asked even the most patriotic war supporters in their Telegram channels. “And now good night, or what?”

Officially, Wagner’s mercenaries are getting away with it

After the performance, state television broadcast the Security Council meeting for almost 30 seconds. There were only Putin’s words of welcome to all representatives of the so-called siloviki, and Defense Minister Sergei Shojgu, who would have liked to extradite Prigozhin, was also seen. The recordings should show how united the unit is behind Putin.

In the meantime, Prigozhin is said to have arrived in Belarus. His plane is said to have landed near Minsk on Tuesday. However, it was not known if the failed mutineer was on board. Prigozhin had already spoken out in an audio message on Monday. He never wanted a “change of power”, only pointing out “serious security concerns”. He did not want his troops to be disbanded, hence the “protest”.

Now his troops are being disbanded with impunity in a different way, as the domestic secret service FSB officially confirmed on Tuesday. However, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, who also spoke with selected journalists in Minsk on Tuesday, did not say what is happening to the paramilitaries in Belarus.

“It was very painful for me to watch,” he said. Meanwhile, the Russian National Guard, which reports directly to Putin, will be equipped with heavy military equipment. Prigozhin is gone and Putin’s private army should now pursue its goals in Ukraine. (aargauerzeitung.ch)