For Russia’s chief mercenary, a photo suggests it's business as usual after a mutiny and exile
NBCAUG 2023
The Spin
Anti-Russia narrative
Branding Prigozhin a traitor and sending him into exile in neighboring Belarus were plainly false flags intended to deceive the West, expand Wagner's and Putin's influence in Africa, spark a major regional crisis, and enrich the backyards of the Russians with illicit business deals.
Pro-Russia narrative
There's no evidence that Prigozhin is continuing to move in and out of Russia, or that this latest video was filmed in Africa. After all criminal charges against him and the Wagner fighters who participated in the mutiny were dropped, Moscow considers the Prigozhin-era over.