July 9 () –
British military intelligence believes that Russia has responded to the effects of last month’s short-lived rebellion led by the leader of the Wagner mercenary group, Yevgeni Prigozhin, with a public relations operation to reinforce the figure of President Vladimir Putin, and to silence any internal information regarding the incident.
“Wagner’s channels on Telegram are practically silent, almost certainly due to state intervention. By contrast, Putin has participated in public engagements of unusual prominence, with the aim of projecting his strength,” the British Ministry of Defense understands in his latest assessment of the conflict in Ukraine.
In general terms, London recognizes three phases in the response of the official Russian media to the insurrection led by Prigozhin on June 23 and 24, dizzying hours that involved an open challenge from the mercenary leader to the Russian military leadership after months of clashes. and that they ended through the mediation of the Belarusian president, Alexander Lukashenko, without clear news of the whereabouts of the ringleader to date.
“It is almost certain that the Russian media were surprised by the riot, because Russian television maintained its usual programming,” the Ministry of Defense understands.
Within a few hours, however, the official channels began a “correction” strategy on the information that began to appear about the passivity of the Russian forces during the first hours of the rebellion, especially when Wagner was planted in the Russian headquarters from Rostov-on-Don, in the south of the country, without firing a single shot.
From there, “narratives to promote the idea that President Vladimir Putin had succeeded in thwarting the insurrection, while avoiding bloodshed, and uniting the country behind the president” began, the ministry adds.
Finally, and already a week later, “the State began to minimize the importance of Prigozhin and the mutiny, while beginning a smear campaign against him” at the same time that Putin’s figure once again achieved a prominent public appearance, he concludes British Military Intelligence.
