Aha! He’s been spotted at last . . . and not in Belarus, where he was initially reported to have been living in exile, but in his home town of St. Petersburg, Russia. And at the much-touted Russia-Africa Summit, to boot (though reportedly “on the sidelines”).

And here he is, in all his casual glory. But why is he wearing jeans and a polo shirt while shaking hands with a member of one of the African delegations? (One report, from the EU Observer, identifies the gentleman as the President of the Central African Republic.) Does Yevgeny Prigozhin not own a suit? It would appear that this “meeting” may have been a spontaneous one, turned into a photo op for Prigozhin to mark his first public viewing in a month. The contrast between his appearance and the elegance of the delegation member could not be more striking. This was a photo op gone bad.

But it has now also been reported by CNN that Prigozhin apparently spoke earlier this week to an African media outlet, assuring them that his Wagner Group is still very much “in business” in Africa, and will continue to represent the interests of their African “clients” in the future — their only restrictions at this time being that they cannot do “anything that contravenes the interests of Russia.”

And there it is, folks: the clear signal that everything Prigozhin does . . . everything he has been doing for the past month . . . everything he will be doing in the foreseeable future . . . is all happening with the consent of, on the instructions of, and under the watchful eye of the Kremlin itself. As if we hadn’t already figured that out. And what are the “interests” that are of such value to countries such as Mali, Libya, et al., that they are willing to pay Russia, through Wagner, several fortunes in mining rights to gold and diamonds? Just thinking about it gives me nightmares, and particularly in light of today’s news of a military coup against the EU-allied, neighboring country of Niger. I have to ask myself: when is a coincidence not a coincidence?

So there we are — Chapter 3 of Yevgeny Prigozhin’s circuitous journey from fierce leader of a military rebellion, to exiled enemy of Vladimir Putin himself, to . . . what? Putin’s Puppet, it would seem. Stay tuned for Chapter Four.

NOTE: The foregoing comments — as with all of my blog posts — represent the observations and opinions of the author (me), and of no other individual or organization.

Brendochka
7/27/23