“A city holding its breath”: Moscow after the Prigozhin putsch
Leading from the Tchaikovsky Conservatoire to Red Square, Bolshoi Nikitsky Street is lined with crowded brunch spots. Poised young women with immaculate tans sip Prosecco with their Kamchatka crab cakes, checking out the passers-by. Its as if Yevgeny Prigozhins march on Moscow never happened. Almost. Russias capital is quieter than usual. It feels like the city is holding its breath. For a few hours on June 24th, it looked as if Prigozhin and his Wagner Group mercenaries might succeed in storming Moscow. Then he agreed to go to Belarus, and in retrospect appears to have overplayed his hand. Russian state TV reassures its audience that order has been restored: Russias security forces did their job and the population has rallied around President Vladimir Putin the hero of the hour. The idea of Prigozhin entering Moscow was like meeting a monsterBut Red Square is still cordoned off. Tourists wanting to take selfies outside Lenins mausoleum have to make do with the metal barrier. There is a heavy police presence. Some people admit to being rattled by Prigozhins aborted insurrection. One Moscow resident I know remembers the constitutional crisis of 1993, in which army tanks shelled a government building and more than 100 people were killed. When she heard the news about Prigozhin she urged her daughter to stock up on macaroni (the suggestion was ignored). Vera, an acquaintance who lives near the motorway on which Wagner troops were approaching Moscow, told me that she had panicked. Her husband was out of town that weekend, and she found herself glued to social media as events unfolded. Russian users provided plenty of gallows humour. In one widely shared clip the famous opening sequence of a Soviet kids cartoon had been edited so that the hero strumming his guitar was redrawn as Prigozhin brandishing a sledgehammer. When Vera saw trucks blocking the road near her apartment, the possibility of a coup went from meme to reality. The idea of Prigozhin entering Moscow was like meeting a monster, she said. It felt like a horror story. People just want to lead their lives, said a friend. Its a kind of tired fatalismI went to a soiree hosted by a successful art dealer. Sitting in the smart kitchen, one of the guests an artist said she was worried that the turmoil unleashed by Prigozhin couldnt be contained. Our hostess told me over French wine and artisanal Caucasus cheese that it wasnt Prigozhins actions that worried her so much as the idea of the Chechen army being sent in to restore order. Other Moscow residents were less concerned. It all felt like a show, said one woman. The fact that no one has been punished since the putsch ended convinces me I am right. Shes not the only one to remark on the leniency of Putins response: the Kremlin announced this week that the Russian leader even held a meeting with Prigozhin five days after his brief rebellion. Whether or not they were shaken by the events of June 24th, most people I spoke to now are hoping to forget war and politics as they head to their dachas for the summer. People just want to lead their lives, they know they cant do anything to change things, said a friend. Its a kind of tired fatalism. Its not clear that Prigozhins story is over. Before his failed bid for power, the mercenary leader had the approval of about a third of Russians, according to the Levada Centre, an independent polling outfit. This share has gone down dramatically in recent days, but Prigozhin is still at large, putting out his message. In an audio recording released on Telegram ten days after his apparent defeat, he promised further victories. Shortly afterwards Aleksandr Lukashenko, the president of Belarus, said that Prigozhin was actually in Russia. Prigozhins challenge to the Kremlins authority still resonates, faintly but perceptiblyHis challenge to the Kremlins authority still resonates, faintly but perceptibly. At this time of year Moscow is normally overrun with Russian teenagers celebrating the end of their schooling. This year, because of the mutiny, kids were ordered to keep their partying confined to a heavily secured area of Gorky Park, where Shaman, the pro-Kremlin pop star, entertained them with deafening patriotic anthems. Blurry videos posted on social media the next day showed small groups of teenagers dancing on a grassy verge at the edge of the concert. They were waving black flags with skulls on them: the logo of the Wagner Group. Kate de Pury is a journalist based in Moscow IMAGES: AFP, AP, Getty, Shutterstock