Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu purportedly appeared in public Monday for the first time since the armed rebellion calling for his ouster, as political uncertainty loomed throughout the Kremlin.
Russia’s Defense Ministry released a video of Shoigu flying in a helicopter and then meeting with military officers in Ukraine. The Associated Press reported the video was shown widely across social media and on Russia-controlled television, but it was not clear when it was filmed.
Wagner Group chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, a longtime ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, launched an armed rebellion against the Kremlin, specifically targeting Shoigu and General Staff chief Gen. Valery Gerasimov. Prigozhin led his fighters from the front lines of Ukraine and marched back toward the Russian capital of Moscow before abruptly turning around, less than 24 hours after he started.
The unrest had been building for months as the leader of the mercenary group grew increasingly critical of the Kremlin and specifically Shoigu, saying his fighters were not provided with enough ammunition during the deadly battle in Bakhmut, Ukraine.
In a video Friday, Prigozhin accused Russia of lying about the Ukrainians and the reasons for the war — arguing against the idea of “denazification.”
The mutiny ended when Putin struck a deal, brokered by Russian ally Belarus, for Prigozhin and his fighters to move to Belarus and be granted amnesty. Reports Monday, however, surfaced in Russian media that suggested Prigozhin’s whereabouts were unknown and that the criminal inquiry into Prigozhin had not yet been closed, despite what the Kremlin claimed.
Beyond the political implications of the feud between Prigozhin and Shoigu, the effects of the Wagner Group’s rebellion on the war in Ukraine are still unclear. Ukraine has begun a high-stakes counteroffensive to take its occupied land back from Russia.