By dismissing rebellion as “minor,” the Kremlin dismantles Prigozhin’s empire

The mercenary uprising that shook Russia was only “a minor problem,” the foreign minister said on Friday, warning the West not to think President Vladimir V. Putin’s grip on power had weakened, even as the Kremlin crack down on the leader of Russia. the mutiny.

Speak up a press conference, Foreign Minister Sergey V. Lavrov claimed that Russia would become “stronger and more resilient” after the short-lived coup last Friday and Saturday by Yevgeny V. Prigozhin and his Wagner group troops, who played a crucial role in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Mr Lavrov dismissed the revolt, which drove an armored column as far as 200 kilometers from Moscow before returning, as insignificant.

“If anyone in the West has any doubts about this, that’s their problem,” he said. He added that the Western countries that support Ukraine were misled if they hoped that “the facade of the Russian government had cracked”.

The Kremlin has repeatedly insisted that the uprising lacked support and that the nation stood with Putin, who described the episode as an important test that Russia had emphatically passed. But it is clear that the government is still cleaning up the aftermath.

The fates of two key figures remain unclear: Mr. Prigozhin and General Sergei Surovikin, a top military commander believed to be aligned with Prigozhin. Neither has been publicly heard from since last weekend, their whereabouts have not been confirmed and it is not clear what degree of freedom either man still enjoys.

The government of Belarus, Putin’s closest international ally, said on Tuesday that Prigozhin had gone into exile there, but there has been no independent confirmation. The Russian authorities apparently agreed not to prosecute Mr Prigozhin or his troops in exchange for his decision last Saturday to step down without major armed conflict.

US officials say General Surovikin, commander of the Russian Air Force and former commander of the war effort in Ukraine, likely knew about the mutiny in advance and appears to have been detained. The Russian government declined to comment. Some pro-war Russian bloggers have reported that he has been arrested, while others have denied it.

Russia’s state media regulator has blocked a news website controlled by Mr Prigozhin, and on Friday a Russian newspaper, Kommersant, reported that several others were blocked also. Russian security services have reportedly raided the offices of other Prigozhin holding companies.

Mr Putin, whose government had long denied any connection to Wagner – as did Mr Prigozhin until last year – admitted this week that contracts with the Kremlin had supported the private army. He said there would be an investigation into those contracts to penalize bribery and profit-seeking.

The Kremlin this week moved to take control of Wagner mercenaries in other countries, including Syria and the Central African Republic, where they spearheaded ruthless Russian support for repressive governments, often while making lucrative concessions in natural resources. secured. Russian diplomats rush to assure their allies of continued Wagner support.

US National Security Council spokesman John F. Kirby said Friday that Wagner, who works for the military junta that rules Mali, had secured the departure of a UN peacekeeping force to that country to further his own business interests. Weeks ago, the junta asked peacekeepers to leave “without delay,” and on Friday the UN Security Council voted to withdraw them.

It is unclear what will happen to the Wagner troops who fought in Ukraine, an important part of Russia’s war effort that has given Mr Prigozhin a solid following in Russia. They have been ordered to sign contracts with the Defense Ministry by Saturday, placing them under the control of the regular Russian army, if they are to remain part of the war.

That order ended Wagner as an independent power in Ukraine, weakened Mr Prigozhin as a political force and showed that he had lost his long-running power struggle against the leaders of the Russian military establishment. He said it also sparked his rebellion, which he said was directed against those military leaders, not Mr Putin.

President Aleksandr G. Lukashenko of Belarus this week said he would be willing to accept Wagner fighters who are unwilling to join the Russian army, offering them an abandoned military base. But it is not known how many people will take up the offer.

New satellite images from Thursday and Friday, analyzed by The New York Times, show that more than 250 tents have been set up over the past five days, enough to house thousands of troops on an unused base. The Times first reported on rapid construction there on Wednesday. The images so far show no sign of a large troop presence.

The movement of Wagner fighters into Belarus could pose a new threat to Ukraine on its northern border, and President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday ordered defenses strengthened there.

Reporting contributed by Eliane Peltier, Valerie Hopkins, Victoria Kim, Christoph Koettl, Riley Mellen, Dmitry Khavin And Gabriela Sa Pessoa.