Russia's President Vladimir Putin delivered a video address on June 24, as Wagner chief Prigozhin staged a challenge to his control.
Photographer: Gavriil Grigorov/SPUTNIK/AFP/Getty ImagesPutin Faces Historic Threat to Absolute Grip on Power in Russia
The Russian leader defused an armed mutiny but doubts about his rule are growing.
Vladimir Putin managed to avert an attack on Moscow with an eleventh-hour deal with his mutinous mercenary commander. But the uprising has pierced his aura of total political control over Russia unlike any other event in his nearly quarter century in power.
Insiders in Moscow were stunned that he’d ignored repeated warnings that Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin was preparing to bring convoys of heavily armed fighters to the capital. Instead, the Russian leader allowed them to get so close authorities had to deploy tanks and troops in defense. That’s fueled once-unthinkable doubts about his legendary command of the country.