Putin’s PR Pros Were at Golf Course during Wagner Group Insurrection

While Russian president Vladimir Putin spent early Saturday (June 24) dealing with a civil war or coup attempt, his communication team was golfing. There’s no other explanation for their display of communication ‘flexibility’ Saturday.

Golf now centers on agility, specifically communication agility. Some background. For roughly 2 years, the world’s leading golf association, the PGA, blasted Saudi Arabia and its leader, who was forming a rival golf association. Worse, deep-pocketed LIV Golf was picking off PGA star players, luring them with huge fees for appearing in tournaments. (A nonprofit, the PGA doesn’t pay golfers merely for playing, they must do well at tournaments to “finish in the money.”) 

To derail LIV Golf, the PGA whacked the Saudi regime’s human rights record, treatment of women, homosexuals, and at least one dissenting journalist. In June 2022, the PGA suspended golfers who played in the first LIV tournament. The players sued. It was a PR war.

Then, after treating LIV Golf like a skunk at a garden party, the PGA reversed course. Suddenly. Without warning. Its leader, commissioner Jay Monahan, announced he’d join the enemy. Though this was communicated badly, the PGA said it was integrating LIV Golf. 

The deal was negotiated secretly; even several PGA board members were unaware of it. Top players found out via social. Not surprisingly, a communicator wasn’t at the table. 

Not at the Table but on the Fairway

On the other hand, Putin’s communicators, finishing a round of 18 holes Saturday, knew from the PGA-LIV Golf saga that a 360-degree turnaround is not only possible, but needs strong communication, if not accurate messaging. Though his hands are very bloody from Ukraine and other things, Putin knows communication. 

For example, shape the narrative. When the economy is suffering because you’re a global pariah from a needless invasion, brag how well things are going. The invasion? Well, it’s a defensive stand against neo-Nazi and western encroachment. 

So, transparency isn’t Putin’s thing. Ah, state-run media does that to you. For example, in China last weekend, state media said Russia was peaceful, though pesky social media said otherwise.

But in the end, Putin heeded the Kremlin PR pros’ counsel. Communicate immediately that Yevgeny Prigozhin and his cadre of Wagner Group irregulars were leaving positions in Ukraine, moving into Russia and marching north on the M4 toward Moscow. The communicators crafted a message of unity and retribution quickly. As good crisis teams do, they had samples drafted well in advance. 

A Knife in the Back

“Any actions that split our nation are essentially a betrayal of our people, of our comrades-in-arms who are now fighting at the frontline. This is a knife in the back of our country and our people,” they wrote for Putin. (Yes, even at the Kremlin, crisis means PR pros work on weekends.)

As we said, Putin’s communicators weren’t sitting at his 20-foot-long table, but had input via secure phones at the golf course’s restaurant. 

[Note to self: craft PRSA resolution that changes “PR needs a seat at the table” to “PR needs input during strategic moments.”]

Their speech for Putin continued, “All those who have consciously chosen the path of betrayal, planned an armed mutiny and taken the path of blackmail and terrorism, will inevitably be punished and will answer before the law (my emphasis) and our people.” 

Room for Maneuver

The communicators did not include Prigozhin’s name in the speech, though the words “Wagner Group” were mentioned. One of the communicators, Igor Kaduchkoff, who’d followed the PGA-LIV Golf rapprochement closely and, incidentally, won the longest drive contest earlier, suggested giving Putin wiggle room, seeing how fluid things were. 

Always a strategic communicator, Igor also was against “knife in the back” language. He told us, “You never want something in speech or statement that might embarrass later. We think a few steps ahead.” His thinking was sound. 

Since Igor knows how fond Putin is a good knife in the back…and Prigozhin was, after all, a former Kremlin caterer, he knew the optics wouldn’t be good should a Wagner Group member take a sharp one in the…well, you get the idea. 

Indeed, just 3 hours after Putin’s first speech, the communicators, most of whom had eaten and showered by now, were at work again. Again demonstrating a PR maxim–work with partners that share your values, brutal dictatorship in this case–Russia drafted Belarus, which negotiated an arrangement exonerating Prigozhin and his forces. Again, Igor and the golfers came to the fore, pun not intended. 

As the communicators crafted a message, Igor mentioned the PGA’s rapid about-face on its LIV Golf position, which it held for 2 years. Then he said, “We called Prigozhin a traitor since 10 this morning. Changing narrative now should be snap!” 

Just Hours Later a Turnabout

Sure enough, exactly 5 hours after Putin’s “mutiny” and punishment speech, Prigozhin, by some accounts a thug, became an angel. This time Putin wasn’t the communicator. Instead, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, “The criminal case will be dropped against [Prigozhin]. He…will go to Belarus.” 

Though the weekend ended relatively peacefully, Putin and Prigozhin are breaking plenty of PR rules as we write this morning (June 26). First, neither Putin nor Prigozhin have appeared in person for several days. As PR pros know, leaders must be visible during a crisis. 

Via an unconfirmed audio tape, Prigozhin today said Wagner Group will not disband. For its part, Moscow hinted Prigozhin might indeed face charges. 

During the audio tape, Prigozhin blasted Moscow, saying his march on Moscow Saturday gave Putin a “masterclass” in how the invasion of Ukraine should have looked. Once you’ve resolved a crisis, pointing fingers is counterproductive.

Meanwhile, Igor and his comrades are urging Putin not to take Prigozhin’s bait. Finished with the golf analogies, they’re pointing at the Ukraine and the White House, which have said little about Saturday’s activities. When your enemy is destroying himself, let him. “It’s PR crisis 101,” Igor told colleagues this morning, sitting at Putin’s table, though Putin is not. 

Will the Kremlin listen?