A week after an abortive uprising by a mercenary chief shook his authority, Vladimir Putin’s efforts to reassert his control are showing cracks.
Infighting spread within the security establishment as the Russian president moved on senior players thought to have supported the 24-hour mutiny by Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin. One top general was detained for questioning, according to people familiar with the moves.
Opponents of Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu from the security services stepped up internal calls for his removal, they said, speaking on condition of anonymity to describe events that aren’t public. Prigozhin had been publicly attacking Shoigu, a longtime ally of Putin’s, for months over the lack of success in the invasion of Ukraine.