Following the uprising by mercenaries from the Wagner Group, the Ukrainian president claimed that Vladimir Putin is ‘very terrified’ and has left his residence in Moscow.
Yevgeny Prigozhin’s heavily armoured warriors were about 100 miles from the Russian capital when his’march’ to oust corrupt commanders he accuses of botching the war was called off.
After 24 hours of turmoil, neither he nor his soldiers would be punished, and despite the attack on the Russian army, which Putin referred to as “treason,” he was deported to Belarus.
There are a number of unanswered questions about the deal that Putin’s former ally struck to pull his for-hire troops, and about what happens next.
But one thing is clear – the Russian leader’s picture of authority is now weakened.
Volodymyr Zelensky said in his address last night: ‘The man from the Kremlin is obviously very afraid and probably hiding somewhere, not showing himself.
‘I am sure that he is no longer in Moscow. He knows what he is afraid of because he himself created this threat.’
He added: ‘The world can see that the masters of Russia control nothing.
‘That means nothing. Simply complete chaos. An absence of any predictability. It is happening on Russian territory, which is fully loaded with weapons.’
There was also little pushback from Russian armed forces, raising questions about Putin’s hold on power.
Zelensky’s comments came shortly before the Wagner boss announced the retreat of his fighters.
A convoy was later filmed leaving the southern city of Rostov, a Russian military post that they had taken control of.
The Ukrainian president stressed the march exposed weakness in the Kremlin and ‘showed all Russian bandits, mercenaries, oligarchs’ it is easy to capture Russian cities ‘and, probably, arsenals with weapons’.
He also warned the situation in Moscow will only become ‘more dangerous’ and that another similar advance from Putin’s enemies is likely to come.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that under a deal brokered by Belarus president Alexander Lukashenko, the criminal case opened against Prigozhin for armed mutiny would be dropped.
Prigozhin would move to Belarus, and Wagner fighters who joined his ‘march for justice’ would face no action, in recognition of their previous service to Russia.
Peskov, who called the events of the day ‘tragic’, said Lukashenko had offered to mediate, with Putin’s approval, because he had known Prigozhin personally for around 20 years.