Western officials are looking to the cracks in Vladimir Putin’s tight grip on power in Russia, after the weekend coup.
So where does Putin go to here? And what’s likely to happen to the man who tried to cause a civil war in Russia.
The unprecedented challenge to Russian President Vladimir Putin by Wagner fighters has exposed fresh “cracks” in the strength of his leadership that may take weeks or months to play out.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and members of the U.S. Congress says Saturday’s turmoil in Russia has weakened Putin in ways that could aid
Ukraine’s counteroffensive against Russian forces within its territory while benefiting Russia’s neighbours, including Poland and the Baltic states.
Blinken says tensions that sparked the action had been growing for months and added the threat of internal turmoil could affect Moscow’s military capabilities in Ukraine.
U.S. officials expect to learn more soon about the events that unfolded in Russia, including details of the deal with Prigozhin mediated by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko that led Wagner fighters to return to their bases.
Forces led by Prigozhin, a former Putin ally and ex-convict, have fought the bloodiest of battles in Russia’s 16-month war in Ukraine.
US officials believe Putin’s future actions in Ukraine could be inhibited by Prigozhin’s assertion that the rationale for invading Ukraine was based on lies.
Some US senators believe the weekend turmoil in Russia does not ease Washington’s need to continue aiding Ukraine as it launches its long-awaited counteroffensive against Russia.
But others question just how much the US knew in the lead up to the weekend uprising, with reports that US intelligence were seeing signa that the Wagner group was splintering against the Russian army command, and had begun to stockpile weapons.
While the immediate risk seems contained, Russia experts say Putin does not emerge looking strong, but rather badly bruised.
But Russia’s president has not been seen in public since, and no new presidential address was being planned in the near future.
In a pre-recorded interview on state TV on Sunday, Mr Putin said he was confident in the progress of the war in Ukraine.
Yevgeny Prigozhin is “stripped of control” of the Wagner Group and set to move to Belarus in return for mutiny charges being dropped; questions raised over what new powers he wields across the border; analysts say rebellion has “degraded morale” on frontline and weakened the Putin regime. #featured #russia #kremlin #vladimir putin #Antony blinken #wagner
