This is another speech by a weak leader. Putin doesn’t have the will to change anything and is failing miserably.
About the event
On 26 June, following Prigozhin’s “March for Justice”, Putin addressed the nation and then met with the Security Forces, who were unwilling and unable to stop Prigozhin.
Context
Announcing Putin’s speech, Peskov said: “Without exaggeration, this speech will determine the fate of Russia”. After the speech, a Wikipedia page appeared and then disappeared. It mockingly declared that the message was not historical but empty.
Simultaneously, Lukashenko was to hold a meeting with journalists. But the Belarusian leader rescheduled the event for Tuesday.
Conclusions
Putin does not want a radical renewal of the system. He wants to change everything without changing anything.
There are no important decisions on personnel, and there are not going to be any shortly either. Putin is betting on the beginning of even more terror. But the system has shown that terror does not apply to the higher echelons of power. Russia seems to be on the verge of a period of mass finger-pointing and blame game.
The only important message is that Prigozhin has been declared the main – and so far the only – enemy of the system. Prigozhin will likely be the starting point for the system’s search for victims and arrowheads. It is possible that Prigozhin’s popularity will only be on the increase as a result.
Putin’s fear of Prigozhin is not without good reason. Prigozhin is effectively in the middle of a presidential election campaign. He has shown that, at least in terms of his security, he does not intend to remain silent for the time being.
Prigozhin’s African assets are the main question at the moment. He will have a chance to return to the big leagues of Russian politics if he can save them. He is now the only powerful opposition figure in Russia.
The authorities have found nothing better to do than to launch a primitive campaign to unite and stick to Putin. But this “unity” is nothing more than hot air. No one is really in opposition to Prigozhin. Putin continues to pretend that everything is going according to plan. He has survived several hours in which the prospect of losing power was more real than at any time in his 23 years in power.
Instead of getting out of his “warm bath”, Putin wants to stay in the virtual world he has invented.
