Kremlin Dismantles Prigozhin's Empire

The rebellion that shook Russia was just “a minor trouble,” the foreign minister said, saying the West should not think that President Vladimir Putin’s grip on power had weakened even as the Kremlin is hammering the leader of the mutiny, Ivan Nechepurenko and Cassandra Vinograd reported for the New York Times.

Photo Insert: The fates of two key figures remain unclear: Prigozhin and Gen. Sergei Surovikin, a top military commander seen as being aligned with Prigozhin.

Speaking at a news briefing, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov asserted that Russia would emerge “stronger and more resilient” after the short-lived putsch last Friday and Saturday by Yevgeny Prigozhin and his Wagner troops, who have played a vital role in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Lavrov tagged the rebellion, which drove an armored column to within 125 miles of Moscow before turning back, as insignificant.

“If someone in the West has doubts about this, then that’s their problem,” he said. He added that the Western nations backing Ukraine were misguided if they hoped that “the facade of the Russian government had cracked.”

The Kremlin has insisted the uprising had no support and the nation was united behind Putin, who has described the episode as an important test that Russia had passed.

But it is clear that the government is still cleaning up its aftermath. The fates of two key figures remain unclear: Prigozhin and Gen. Sergei Surovikin, a top military commander seen as being aligned with Prigozhin. Neither has been heard from publicly since last weekend.

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