Putin’s crony system of government is failing

OPINION:

There was a curious report in The Washington Post late last month. I saw it in no other newspaper.

It began: “When Yevgeniy Prigozhin, the head of the Wagner mercenary group, launched his attempted mutiny on the morning of June 24, Vladimir Putin was paralyzed and unable to act decisively, according to Ukrainian and other security officials in Europe.”

Did you get that? President Putin was paralyzed and unable to act decisively. Had Vlad taken aboard a little too much vodka? It was still early morning in Moscow!

It gets worse. “The Russian president had been warned by the Russian security services at least two or three days ahead of time that Prigozhin was preparing a possible rebellion, according to intelligence assessments shared with The Washington Post.”

Otherwise, little else was done.

Does it get worse? It does for Mr. Putin. “Putin had time to take the decision to liquidate [the rebellion] and arrest the organizers,” said one of the European security officials who were interviewed by the Post.

“Then when it [the rebellion] began to happen, there was paralysis on all levels. … There was absolute dismay and confusion. For a long time, they did not know how to react.”

This madcap moment lasted at least 36 hours. Where was President Putin? Even worse, where was the president’s cook, Chef Prigozhin? What if President Putin got hungry? How about a hamburger?

But seriously, where was the president of Russia while all this chaos was taking place? It sounds like no one was in charge. Even worse, it sounds like no one wanted to be in charge, not even Chef Prigozhin.

If it is true that no one wanted to lead Russia during this chaotic period, it will go down as the strangest 36 hours in world history. It will be remembered as being the time when Russia went from being a dictatorship governed by Stalin, the man of steel, to being governed by Mr. Putin, the man who disappeared for 36 hours and may disappear again — this time, for a long time.

Well, at least for now, Mr. Putin is back in charge of his increasingly ramshackle country, but a country that seems to be losing its war with Ukraine.

Just last week, one of its warships came limping into port at Novorossiysk, Russia, with a gaping hole in its side, the result of its confrontation with a Ukrainian naval drone. How much more can Mother Russia bleed?

Observers are beginning to speak of what type of government Mr. Putin has adopted. He is not a communist. Too many oligarchs hover around him, and they have all made too much money.

Nor is he a czarist. Again, too many are enriching themselves from his rule. I believe the most apt description of Mr. Putin’s rule is his crony system of government.

The large number of mediocre appointees he has brought into public life is typical of his mediocrity. Just look at how mediocre his military has been. As soon as a general or an admiral distinguishes himself in battle, he is fired, or he dies mysteriously in battle.

So back to the piece that provoked my column. The Washington Post piece reported how Mr. Putin was paralyzed and indecisive from the start. The Post piece reported how Mr. Putin ignored his intelligence people who were attempting to tell him about the impending rebellion.

And where did he go for those mysterious 36 hours? Was he hiding? From whom?

Could it be that our CIA has had enough? Could it be that they have decided to end this intolerable war upon Ukraine?

Will our intelligence people reveal the Kremlin as second-rate? Will it help rid the world of Messrs. Putin and Prigozhin and their convict army?

The Russians and the Ukrainians can work things out on their own. And congratulations to The Washington Post. Finally, they got something right.

When will the rest of the journalistic community catch up?

Glory to Ukraine!

• R. Emmett Tyrrell Jr. is founder and editor in chief of The American Spectator. He is a senior fellow at the London Center for Policy Research and the author most recently of “The Death of Liberalism,” published by Thomas Nelson Inc. His memoirs, “How Do We Get Out of Here: Half a Century of Laughter and Mayhem at The American Spectator — From Bobby Kennedy to Donald J. Trump,” will be published by Post Hill Press in September and can be ordered online now from Amazon and Barnes & Noble.