Blinken calls Wagner group rebellion ‘a real distraction for Putin’ amid Ukrainian counteroffensive

Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Sunday called the recent rebellion by Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin a “real distraction” for Russian President Vladimir Putin that could “create greater openings” for Kyiv’s forces as Ukraine mounts its counteroffensive. 

“All of this is likely to unroll in the coming days, in the coming weeks, to the extent that it presents a real distraction for Putin, and for Russian authorities, that they have to … sort of mind their rear even as they’re trying to deal with the counter offensive and Ukraine. I think that creates even greater openings for the Ukrainians to do well on the ground,” Blinken said on CBS News’s “Face the Nation.” 

Prigozhin, who leads the private Russian military contractor organization the Wagner Group, urged an armed uprising to oust Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, challenging Putin’s justification for Moscow’s ongoing war on its neighbor. 

Putin promised to put down the “armed mutiny,” but Prigozhin ordered his forces to stop their advance just a day later after an agreement reached with Belarus.

Kyiv’s much-anticipated counteroffensive launched this month, more than a year since Russia’s invasion last February.

Blinken said on CNN’s “State of the Union” that the rebellion “creates an additional advantage” for Ukrainians as they lodge their counteroffensive push.

“The Russians have put in place lots of defenses over the last months in anticipation of this counteroffensive, but it is progressing. And to the extent that Russia is now distracted, that Putin has to worry about what’s going on inside of Russia as much as he has to worry about what he’s trying to do not successfully in Ukraine, I think that creates an additional advantage for the Ukrainians to take advantage of,” Blinken said.

Ukrainians “have a clear plan” and “have in hand what they what they need to be successful” despite “tough terrain,” the secretary said.