“I would be surprised if Prigozhin escapes further retribution for this,” CIA Director William Burns said, adding, “if I were Prigozhin I wouldn’t fire my food taster.”
Gavriil Grigorov / AP fileLast month’s mutiny in Russia damaged President Vladimir Putin’s carefully crafted image as a strong ruler, and he is likely to seek retribution against the man who led the rebellion, CIA Director William Burns said Thursday.
For Russians accustomed to seeing Putin in control, “the question was ‘Does the emperor have no clothes?’ or at least ‘Why is it taking him so long for him to get dressed?’” Burns said. The rebellion represented “the most direct assault on the Russian state in Vladimir Putin’s 23 years in power,” Burns added.
“What he’s going to try to do is separate Prigozhin and undercut him but preserve what’s of value to him," he said. As for Prigozhin’s whereabouts, he appears to be in Belarus after having spent time in Russia, Burns said.
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