Wagner group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin may be "sitting comfortably" in Belarus for now, but Russian President Vladimir Putin is showing signs that he may be reneging on his deal with the mercenary chief after his short-lived revolt and march toward Moscow last weekend, retired U.S. Air Force Brig. Gen. Blaine Holt tells Newsmax.
"Putin's got to be looking over his shoulder, but what we can see this morning in Moscow is he's already started the investigatory trail to find out where all the loose ends are," Holt told Newsmax's "Wake Up America" on Wednesday.
Prigozhin is likely to be investigated for money fraud and other elements of his interactions with the Wagner group, including reports that he is making an "interesting amount of money," with an audit showing the Russian government had paid him $2 billion in a year, said Holt.
The Russians will also be trying to determine who knew about Prigozhin's actions, including taking a look at the Russian general staff who were aware but did not report the situation to the government, said Holt.
"There is no loss of zeal for finding out where the origins of this came from," he added.
Meanwhile, Holt said it's concerning that Prigozhin is in Belarus, where Putin has been shipping tactical nuclear weapons, but at the same time, he thinks the Wagner leader has "probably played out his course like a streaking comet across the sky."
"There are so many that they can put in charge of the Wagner group or reconstitute it," said Holt. "What we know is this. We know there are former prisoners, hardened combat personnel, sitting inside Belarus right now near tactical nuclear weapons that Russia has put there."
NATO, he added, "is right to be concerned about it," but "over dialing into this guy Prigozhin is not going to get us anywhere."
Instead, Russia's intent for its tactical weapons must be examined, said Holt.
"Are they building a strike force to get at Kyiv?" said Holt. "What is their intent with the tactical weapons, should Ukraine have a big breakthrough in its counteroffensive?"
Ukraine's fight is also coming at a "tremendous cost," and the United States must watch its own readiness stocks, he said.
"NATO has got to be making some decisions," including working for a diplomatic stance on the war, and an international solution must be reached on the fate of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, said Holt.
Ukraine, meanwhile, is still suffering from a lack of air power, which is necessary to make efficient use of the ground weapons it is receiving from the United States and other countries, said Holt.
"They're fighting with what they can, but without the air cover, they're going to chew up ammunition, and unfortunately, people too, at an alarming rate," he said. "Where does this lead? Remember, we have other adversaries in this world that we've got to account for."
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Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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