Vladimir Putin is the ‘ultimate apostle of payback’ and is likely plotting his revenge on Yevgeny Prigozhin after the Wagner group’s failed mutiny, the director of the CIA has warned.
‘If I were Prigozhin, I wouldn’t fire my food taster,’ said William Burns.
The intelligence head said the private military group’s uprising exposed ‘significant weaknesses’ in the Kremlin’s power structure. It also saw Russia’s justification of the war in Ukraine brought into question, with Wagner boss Prigozhin claiming it was built on lies.
The brief mutiny was the most direct challenge to Putin in his 23 years in power, one which Burns said the tyrant would not take lightly.
‘Putin is someone who generally thinks that revenge is a dish best served cold,’ Burns told the Aspen Security Forum last night, adding that he ‘would be surprised if Prigozhin escapes further retribution’.
Putin seemingly cut a deal, brokered by his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko, to allow Prigozhin and his men free passage to Belarus after they stood down in their coup attempt.
But it is by no means a case of forgive and forget, with Burns claiming Putin is simply buying time while he works out how to best deal with his treasonous former chef.
In June, the Russian leader described the Wagner Group’s march on Moscow as ‘a stab in the back of the troops and the people of Russia’.
‘What we are seeing is a very complicated dance,’ Burns said on Thursday, according to the BBC.
Burns also claimed Russian elites are increasingly questioning Putin’s judgment, particularly following the Wagner group’s mutinous 24 hours in June, during which they looked like they could reach Moscow.
‘What it resurrected was some deeper questions … about Putin’s judgment, about his relative detachment from events and even about his indecisiveness,’ Burns said.
