Feigin: Putin Fears Everyone And Launches Purges

Prigozhin has set irreversible processes in motion in Russia.

Vladimir Putin, frightened by the turmoil, is stepping up the search for traitors in his entourage. The first to go was General Sergei Surovikin. The officer is now likely to be questioned.

Russian opposition activist Mark Feigin told Channel 24.

No one has seen the general since 24 June. If he had made a public statement, the rumours and speculation would have been dispelled. But the general's fate has been unknown for more than a week, and untruthful Russian officials insist that there have been no arrests since the Wagner march on Moscow.

"One can assume that he is being interrogated in order to learn something. Perhaps he and Prigozhin discussed something that could be treated as complicity in the mutiny," Feigin said.

According to the opposition leader, the FSB and the military counterintelligence service may be communicating with Surovikin. It is possible that the general will have to answer questions from Putin's people.

"There will be a purge in the army. In order to avoid a new mutiny, Putin must carry out this purge," Feigin noted.

Putin will get rid of people suspected of disloyalty, but here the Kremlin will face a shortage of officials. In recent years, Russia has experienced a rather acute shortage of personnel.

The second challenge for Putin is to find out who really knew about the uprising and may have encouraged it.