Members of Russia’s Wagner mercenary group headed back to their bases and withdrew from the Russian city of Rostov on Sunday, while U.S. officials said that Wagner’s recent challenge represents an unprecedented threat to the Kremlin.
In an interview Sunday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told ABC News that “16 months ago, Russian forces were on the doorstep of Kyiv, Ukraine, thinking they were going to take the city in a matter of days,” adding that “now they have to be focused on defending Moscow, Russia’s capital, against mercenaries” that were initially backed by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“We see cracks emerging,” he said. “Where they go, if anywhere, when they get there, very hard to say. I don’t want to speculate on it.”
Blinken added that he doesn’t believe officials have “seen the final act” after the Wagner mercenary group started moving toward Moscow during an armed revolt. Last week, the group’s leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin, said that he would head to Moscow in a “march for justice” in support of what he said were neglected Russian forces in Ukraine.
“So much that is beneath the surface has now surfaced again in terms of questioning the premise for the war, in terms of questioning the conduct of the war, in terms of questioning what good this has actually done for Russia,” Blinken told ABC News’ “This Week.”
Putin has not made public comments since the deal was struck to de-escalate the crisis. State television released excerpts on Sunday of an interview in which Putin said he was giving top priority to the conflict in Ukraine and was in constant contact with the Defense Ministry.
However the interview appeared to have been recorded before the mutiny and he made no reference to Saturday’s events. State television also said Putin would attend a meeting of Russia’s Security Council this coming week, without elaborating.
Prigozhin, 62, was seen leaving the district military headquarters in Rostov, hundreds of miles south of Moscow, overnight in a sport utility vehicle, reported Reuters. His whereabouts on Sunday were not immediately clear.
