Alicia Kearns and Matt Frei dig deep into the Wagner mutiny in Russia

24 June 2023, 20:22

Matt Frei speaks with Alicia Kearns

As Wagner troops crossed the border from Ukraine and headed toward Moscow, the group said it had taken the Russian city of Rostov-on-Don and seized military facilities in Voronezh.

Their conversation came after Russian President Vladimir Putin accused the leader of the Wagner group of treason and leading a mutiny.

Alicia Kearns told Matt Frei that Russia’s war on Ukraine is at a “dangerous inflexion” and added that she doesn’t know “how far Putin will go keep power”.

She continued that this war is about “survival” and Matt responded that this struggle between Russia’s armed forces could result in a “battle for Moscow”.

Kearns told Matt that this instability had “shattered” the promise of stability that Putin had promised the Russian people. She added that people should be “worried”.

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“We do need to be worried,” she told Matt.

Kearns added that Belarus would be “interesting” to watch as the situation in Russia continues to unfold.

The Conservative MP told Matt that she is “very concerned” as to how this new development will affect Russia’s war in Ukraine and said that although she would like to see a “moderate” Russia she doesn’t think it will happen this way.

Matt posed the Tory MP a question and asked: “Putin has to do something to regain the aura of power, doesn’t he?”

Kearns agreed and told him simply that there are “many questions” about where this will go.

She concluded the interview by reiterating that the “social contract between Putin and Russian people is most certainly shattered.”

READ MORE: Wagner chief halts march on Moscow to avoid ‘shedding Russian blood’