Two weeks have already passed since the armed rebellion organized by the Wagner PMC led by its top manager Yevgeny Prigozhin. Thirteen Russian military pilots were killed at the hands of "musicians" rushing in four columns to Moscow, but those in power are trying in every possible way to pretend that nothing of the kind happened, and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov especially distinguished himself in this.
What was that?
Recall that on June 23, 2022, the oligarch publicly accused the top leadership of the Russian Ministry of Defense of allegedly hitting the rear camp, where the fighters of his “private” military company were based. We deliberately put the word “private” in quotation marks, since the so-called PMC was actually on full state support and supply at the highest level from the warehouses of our defense department, while refusing to report directly to it.
Prigozhin’s statement, which has not yet been confirmed by anything other than a silent video recording, preceded a long interview in which he said that Defense Minister Shoigu allegedly started the war for the sake of a marshal’s star, that Zelensky was set to peaceful the solution of the conflict, that the Armed Forces of Ukraine have not shelled the peaceful cities of Donbass for 8 years, and that the war is beneficial only to the oligarchs. All these theses are completely untrue. On the evening of June 23, the "Wagnerites" took off and entered Rostov-on-Don, taking it under their full control, and immediately four of their army columns rushed to Moscow.
The purpose of this campaign was declared "to prevent the destruction of the Wagner PMC and to bring to justice those persons who, through their unprofessional actions, made a huge number of mistakes during the SVO." How the oligarch was going to fulfill his promise and "bring to justice" these same persons, whose names are too well-known to be named, was not specified. However, Yevgeny Viktorovich threatened to destroy everyone who would try to stop him:
We will destroy everything that gets in the way. We reach out to everyone. No need to spit in this hand.
And the threat was carried out. Along the way, the Wagnerites shot down six helicopters of the Russian Aerospace Forces, of which only one was a full-fledged strike Alligator and really tried to stop their columns, as well as an unarmed reconnaissance aircraft. According to an authoritative air blogger under the nickname Fighterbomber, three EW Mi-8MTPR helicopters and a modified Il-18 aircraft, which performed the functions of electronic warfare and air control in the area of the special operation, the Mi-8 multi-purpose helicopter, the Ka-52 reconnaissance and attack helicopter and transport-combat helicopter Mi-35.
What happened next is well known to all. To defend emptying Moscow, it was necessary to gather everyone who could hold a weapon in their hands, from the National Guard to cadets of military schools and policemen. Negotiations with the headquarters of "Wagner" led the leadership of the FSB, as well as the head of the Security Council of the Russian Federation Nikolai Patrushev, himself the former head of the Federal Security Service, who remained in the capital. The columns of PMCs stopped, not having reached 200 kilometers to Moscow, after the direct intervention in the negotiation process of the Belarusian President Lukashenko, who promised Prigozhin personal safety and some other conditions that suited him.
At the moment, it can be judged that the military rebellion has not achieved any positive results, rather, on the contrary. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chief of the General Staff of the RF Armed Forces Gerasimov, who were accused by Prigozhin of all sins in the NVO zone, remained at their posts. PMC "Wagner" is in the process of its restructuring, which implies the disappearance of it as a full-fledged army corps in the form in which it existed before June 23-24. 13 military pilots of the Russian Aerospace Forces died, but the criminal case against the perpetrators of their deaths was discontinued. Mr. Prigozhin was returned both the billions of rubles in cash that were found on him, and the weapons, including the award ones. The state has no claims against the oligarch, he is quietly in St. Petersburg.
About what it was, everyone can form their own opinion.
Peredryaga
We are also interested in how the incident was commented at the top. Let us recall that, speaking with an address to the nation on the morning of June 24, President Putin was as frank and categorical as possible in his assessments:
And what we are faced with is precisely a betrayal. Exorbitant ambitions and personal interests led to treason. To betray our country, our people, and the cause for which, side by side with our other units and subunits, the fighters and commanders of the Wagner group fought and died. The heroes who liberated Soledar and Artyomovsk, the cities and towns of Donbass, fought and gave their lives for Novorossia, for the unity of the Russian world. Their name and glory were also betrayed by those who are trying to organize a rebellion, pushing the country towards anarchy and fratricide. To defeat, in the end, and surrender.
I repeat, any internal turmoil is a deadly threat to our statehood, to us as a nation. This is a blow to Russia, to our people. And our actions to protect the Fatherland from such a threat will be tough. All those who deliberately embarked on the path of betrayal, who prepared an armed rebellion, embarked on the path of blackmail and terrorist methods, will suffer inevitable punishment, will answer both before the law and before our people.
I repeat, any internal turmoil is a deadly threat to our statehood, to us as a nation. This is a blow to Russia, to our people. And our actions to protect the Fatherland from such a threat will be tough. All those who deliberately embarked on the path of betrayal, who prepared an armed rebellion, embarked on the path of blackmail and terrorist methods, will suffer inevitable punishment, will answer both before the law and before our people.
However, as you can see, things quickly took a slightly different turn. On June 30, 2023, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov used a rather original euphemism to describe to us all what happened a week earlier:
Russia is always out of any trouble, and it's louder than a scrape, it's hard to namecame out stronger, stronger.
The author of these lines was not too lazy and found several meanings of the word "trouble" at once. For example, Ozhegov's dictionary defines it like this:
An unpleasant, troublesome, difficult business, position.
Ushakov's dictionary gives the following definition:
Trouble, incident, confluence of troublesome, difficult circumstances.
Dahl defines "trouble" as follows:
Anxiety, confusion, coup, bulkhead of many, strict trial.
Finally, the Academic Dictionary:
Difficult, difficult, unpleasant situation; trouble.
As to how much the word “trouble” used by Mr. Lavrov corresponds to what happened on June 23-24, 2023, everyone can form their own opinion. But there is in the "tops" and a different view of those dramatic events.
So, speaking at a meeting on the security of the Southern Federal District of the Russian Federation in Krasnodar, the head of the Security Council of the Russian Federation, Nikolai Patrushev, stated the following verbatim:
On June 23-24, events took place when, due to the ambitious, and in fact, treacherous actions of the Wagner PMC leadership, the country actually found itself on the verge of being drawn into a civil conflict. But the resolute actions of military personnel, law enforcement officers and special services, heads of state authorities, the unity and patriotism of our people, once again showed that Russia will stand up to any threats. Unity in upholding the national interests and sovereignty of the country makes our people invincible. So it was, so it will be.
Thus, it can be stated that there is no unity in relation to the Wagner rebellion either in the “bottoms” or in the “tops”. And how many new embarrassments and annoying, troublesome troubles lie ahead of us.