FLASH
Shkruar nga Bethany Elliot
Perhaps the closest analogy to what Putin can now do to Prigozhin is to treat him like jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny....
A thief turned hot dog vendor, restaurant owner, warlord and most recently insurgent now finds himself looking for a new role. A few days ago, the President of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, announced that Prigozhin had arrived in the country, as agreed under the terms of the deal that Lukashenko himself brokered to end the revolt.
It was Russian President Putin himself who confirmed that Wagner fighters could join the Russian defense ministry or another security agency, return home or go to Belarus.
Lukashenko noted that while his country is not building camps or recruitment centers for the Wagner forces, it will provide them with an abandoned military base.
Although it is too early to speculate on numbers, independent Russian media sources have reported the construction of a camp with a capacity for 8,000 men in the Mogilev region of Belarus.
Meanwhile, Lukashenko added that his Defense Minister Viktor Khrenin has proposed the integration of Wagner fighters into the Belarusian army. Given the ruthless and violent tactics routinely used by Wagner forces in Ukraine, including against the Russian military, the recruitment of ex-convicts skilled in the use of weapons poses a clear risk to Lukashenko's leadership.
The strong anti-war sentiment among the Belarusian population can only be exacerbated by this influx.
He is not the only one asking what to do with Prigozhin. Putin suffered the biggest challenge to his rule on Saturday and has a documented history of eliminating enemies who have become less public.
While Putin may feel that Prigozhin's death would now serve as a warning to others who feel the urge to mount a similar challenge, the eyes of the world are on him.
If Prigozhin is killed now, his face will appear on T-shirts, as Putin would martyr a man who still enjoys considerable popularity among his forces and on social media.
Perhaps the closest analogy to what Putin can now do to Prigozhin is to treat him like jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny. Sentenced to an ever-increasing prison sentence, Navalny spends his days hidden from public view as his energy gradually drains more and more each day.
Although Russia's federal security service reported yesterday the closure of the criminal case against Wagner's boss and his insurgents, forcing Prigozhin to stay in Belarus or opening criminal proceedings would be a similar tactic.
While he may not seek to hand down a death sentence for Prigozhy now, Putin's anger and sense of humiliation are unlikely to abate anytime soon, he once said the only thing he cannot forgive is treason.
Both Sergei Skripal and Alexander Litvinenko revealed that Putin holds grudges against his enemies long after their betrayals.
"The compensation for a death sentence is knowing the exact hour when one must die," observed Vladimir Nabokov. It's a luxury not afforded to Prigozhin, who now waits to understand the full consequences of provoking Putin's wrath.
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