Experts, politicians and analysts agree.
The armed uprising was disastrous for the Kremlin – and now questions are being raised about Vladimir Putin’s future in power.
– The strong leader has lost control over the monster he himself created, says foreign affairs commentator Elisabet Frerot.
– It breaks the magic around Putin, says Russia expert Hugo von Essen.
After the Kremlin prepared for conflicts and infighting in the capital Moscow throughout Saturday, word finally came that the Wagner Group and Yevgeny Prigozhin are withdrawing their troops.
The threat to end the Russian military leadership ended with a settlement with Vladimir Putin after negotiations with Belarus dictator Aleksandr Lukashenko.
Experts and analysts are now asking themselves what is happening to power in Russia. In a speech on Russian state television, Vladimir Putin himself tried to emphasize that the Russian military leadership is fully focused on the goals of the war in Ukraine, despite the threats of civil war a few hours earlier.
USA: “Seeing cracks that weren’t there before”
In the United States, you have a different picture. In the CNN news program “State of the Union”, the country’s foreign minister Antony Blinken talked about a shaken Kremlin.
– What we have seen is out of the ordinary. I think you now see cracks that weren’t there before, he tells the channel.
He emphasizes that it is unclear what will happen next.
– This is like a movie and I don’t think we’ve seen the last act yet.
“Lost control of the monster”
TV4 Nyheterna’s foreign affairs commentator Elisabet Frerot says that the Russian president’s power position is greatly weakened after the events in southern Russia.
– He has never appeared to be weaker, she says.
– The strong leader has lost control over the monster he himself created. The private army which was his obedient tool turned against him and he failed to stop their advance in Russia. He was forced to take the help of Lukashenko, whom he previously treated as a lap dog, to get out of this predicament.
She says that the armed rebellion could have ripples on the water in Russia.
– History has shown that a failed coup is sometimes followed by another. Although Prigozhin failed, he may have let the genie out of the bottle.
The expert: The damage cannot be repaired
Hugo von Essen, analyst at the Center for East European Studies at the Institute for Foreign Policy, says that both Vladimir Putin and Yevgeny Prigozhin are losers after yesterday’s dramatic events.
The person who has been hit the hardest, however, is the president, according to the Russia expert.
– This has hit Putin and his image very hard. This was a disaster for his regime and for Russia, he tells TV4 Nyheterna.
Hugo von Essen believes that the damage that has now befallen the Russian regime will be difficult to repair.
– This shows that he no longer has the control that most Russians think he has. It breaks the magic around Putin and around what he has tried to build.