Misha Japaridze/Reuters
Payback could still be on the way for Yevgeny Prigozhin after he led his Wagner mercenaries in an armed rebellion against Russia’s military commanders, CIA Director William Burns said Thursday.
Almost a month has passed since Prigozhin’s mutiny, which Burns described as the “most direct assault on the Russian state in Vladimir Putin’s 23 years in power.” Although the mercenary boss has so far apparently escaped the grim fate that has been meted out to others who dared to challenge Putin’s authority, Burns says Putin could just be biding his time before exacting revenge.
“I think in many ways, it exposed some of the significant weaknesses in the system that Putin has built,” Burns said of the Wagner mutiny at the Aspen Security Forum. He added that he found it “remarkable” that despite the uprising, “Putin felt compelled to do a deal with his former caterer,” referring to Prigozhin, the warlord dubbed “Putin’s Chef.”