In the most detailed public account ever given by a US official, the director of the CIA on Thursday gave a scathing assessment of the damage done to Russian President Vladimir V. Putin by the Wagner mercenary group’s coup, saying the coup had revived questions about his judgment and detachment from events.
Speaking at the Aspen Security Forum, the annual national security conference, CIA Director William J. Burns said that during the 36 hours of the coup last month, Russian security services, military and decision makers “appeared to have lost their way.”
“A lot of Russians watching this were using this image of Putin as an arbiter of the question, ‘Does the emperor have no clothes?'” Mr Burns said, “or at least ‘Why is he taking so long to get dressed?'”
Yevgeny V. Mr Burns’ criticism of the Kremlin’s paralysis during the coup by Prigozhin and his mercenary group built on comments a day earlier from his British counterpart, the head of MI6, Richard Moore, who said the coup showed cracks in Mr Putin’s rule.
Mr. Mr Burns said that while Prigozhin was making some stages of the coup “as he went along”, his criticism of Russia’s military leadership, in a series of increasingly scathing statements over the months, was “hiding in plain sight”.
Mr. Prigozhin was also harshly criticized. Mr Burns said a Telegram channel where Mr Prigogine posted a video challenging Russia’s main argument for invading Ukraine was viewed by a third of Russia’s population.
“That video is the most scathing indictment of Putin’s rationale for the war, the conduct of the war, the corruption at the core of the Putin regime that I’ve heard from Russians or non-Russians,” Mr. Burns said.
Mr. Burns confirmed that the United States had some indication that a coup might take place. He predicted that Mr. Putin would try to separate Wagner’s forces from Mr. Prigogine’s to preserve the combat potential of the mercenary group, which is vital to Russia’s war effort.
Since the coup and the accord that ended it, Mr. Prigozhin has been based in Minsk, Belarus, but has spent time in Russia, Mr. Burns said.
Mr. He said he wondered if Prigozhin had ultimately “escaped further retaliation”.
“What we’re seeing is a very complicated dance between Prigozhin and Putin,” Mr Burns said. “I think Putin is a person who generally thinks of revenge as a cold dish, so he tries to resolve the situation as much as possible.”
Mr. Burns, a former US ambassador to Russia who served in Moscow as Russia’s president consolidated power nearly two decades ago, added that the Russian leader is “the ultimate apostle of payment”.
And, Mr. Burns suggests, it’s not just Mr. Prigogine who is facing the consequences.
Senior Russian General Sergei V. US officials have said privately that Surovikin had advance knowledge of Mr Prigogine’s plans and may have supported the coup.
Asked whether General Surovikin was free or in custody, Mr. Burns said, “I don’t think he’s enjoying a lot of freedom right now.”
