How Wagner Group rebellion has exposed 'weak' Putin – with rivals now sharpening their knives to stab him in the back | The Sun
VLADIMIR Putin's once unquestionable control of Russia appears to be over as the tyrant is now locked in a fight for survival following the Wagner Group rebellion.
The silent, paranoid, and likely trembling Russian leader has not be seen in over 32 hours and experts warn that the Kremlin's "poisonous spiders" are out for blood.
The last startling 24 hours have seen Putin's long-time ally lead an armed rebellion against his master and, according to Vlad, threatened the very existence of Russia.
"This is treason…this is a stab in the back of the troops and the people of Russia," the tyrant desperately raged on Saturday morning.
In a stark admission of his own fragility, Putin added: "A blow like this was dealt to Russia in 1917, when the country was fighting in World War One. Victory was stolen from us."
The cowering Russian leader began to batten down the hatches and scramble his guards and tanks to defend the capital, while his presidential plane was spotted fleeing to St Petersburg.
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At the 11th hour, Putin was forced to back peddle on his previous claims to "crush" and "punish" the mutineers, and instead offer them amnesty and their leader a safe route to exile in Belarus.
Now, experts say that the Russian leader emerges from the attempted coup shaken, weakened and exposed.
And, the mystery still remains over where Putin is as he has remained absent and decidedly silent since the fateful deal was struck to call off the revolt.
Now, he may have a leadership crisis on his hands, with plenty of wolves waiting in the wings and willing to claw their way to power.
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Four top Kremlin power-brokers who could seize the opportunity to overthrow Putin include PM Mikhail Mishustin, Nikolai Patruschev and spychiefs Alexander Bortnikov and Sergei Naryshkin.
"Putin is not the Peter the Great that he thought he was a few weeks ago," Colonel Hamish de Bretton-Gordon told The Sun Online.
"Where does Putin go now? He's been exposed as a weak man rather than the strongman that has kept him in power for two decades."
Inside the Kremlin, the retired British Army officer warns: "they're all like poisonous spiders trying to kill each other".
"These are just gangsters, it is gangster warfare, but at the strategic level."
He added: "As far as Putin himself goes the glass ceiling has broken.
"If the Russian state can't prevent 25,000 men marching on Moscow it really shows how broken the Putin regime is."
Who could replace a weakened Vlad?
PUTIN’S iron-first grip on Russia is slipping and once-loyal Kremlin cronies may pounce from the shadows to take the top job.
The four who are tipped to take power:
Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin
The quiet PM would automatically assume Putin's duties should the tyrant fall
The technocrat, 57, rose to power suddenly in 2020 after heading the Federal Tax Service
He is rumoured to have a huge hidden property empire
Nikolai Patrushev
Another serious contender and Putin ally, the 71-year-old is Secretary of the Security Council of Russia
He was formerly director of the FSB from 1999 to 2008
He met Putin when both were in the KGB and the two became close, with Vlad rewarding him with his prestigious new role after becoming president
Patrushev is accused of involvement in a series of deadly apartment bombings in Russia in 1999 that killed around 300 civilians, which Putin blamed on "Chechen separatists"
He is also believed to have approved the 2006assassination of FSB whistle-blower Alexander Litvinenko in in London
Sergei Naryshkin
Putin's spymaster, Naryshkin is Head of the foreign intelligence service (SVR), the experienced spy is also tipped to have his eyes on the presidency
He has been a chief engineer of the conspiracy that Ukraine's government is full of Nazis and is an old KGB chum of Vlad
Alexander Bortnikov
Long tipped to replace Putin in the past, he is the director of the FSB
He worked from 1975-2004 in the secret police before joining the spy agency and rising quickly through the ranks
Under his leadership, the FSB is accused of destroying opposition parties, the free press, and civil rights groups
He initiated the annexation of Crimea in 2014 and was slapped with sanctions by the EU as a result
Keir Giles, a Russia expert from Chatham House said: "Putin emerges from this crisis dramatically weakened, the mystique of his power gone."
He told The Sun Online: "It sets a dangerous precedent that you can challenge the Russian federation with an armed force and get away with it."
In terms of the deal struck between Putin and Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin, Giles said it "makes no sense."
"You should be baffled. I cannot tell you what is going on, it makes no sense.
"The deal made was not in either side's interest."
However, he added: "The next 24 to 48 hours will be crucial".
Speaking on CBS News, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken agreed that the rebellion exposed "real cracks" and was a "direct challenge" to Putin.
Blinken however said it was "too early" to speculate on the consequences, despite dubbing the rebellion "extraordinary".
"This raises profound questions, it shows real cracks."
Priogzhin's rebellion started on Saturday morning after an arrest warrant was issued for the Wagner chief – a former close ally of Putin.
The billionaire – known as "Putin's chef" – had been involved in an increasingly bitter war of words with the Russian military over their lack of support for his mercenaries in Ukraine.
Wagner forces stormed across the border from Ukraine and seized to cities of Rostov and Voronezh – including the HQ of Russia's military operations.
His forces then headed north – shooting down six Russian military helicopters and a plane on the way as Vlad's forces hastily fortified Moscow.
And then as the convoy came within 120 miles of the capital – with Putin's regime looking like it had just hours left – they stopped.
Priogzhin then suddenly announced the rebellion was over via Telegram.
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In an astonishing show of weakness, Russia insisted they had dropped all criminal charges against Prigozhin – and he and his men were free to leave, so long as the warlord left of Belarus.
The exact details of the "deal" remain unclear – and observers have warned this crisis is far from over.
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