Vladimir Putin facing 'deep fractures' following Wagner mutiny: report

Russian President Vladimir Putin is "under pressure" inside the Kremlin in the wake of the private military company Wagner Group's failed march on Moscow, Politico's Nicholas Vinocur and Anne McElvoy reported on Wednesday.

Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin — formerly known as "Putin's Chef" — was instrumental in Putin's invasion of Ukraine. But the Russian military's heavy losses and paltry advances led to disillusionment among Wagner's mercenary troops, culminating in the abandoned siege of the Russian capital. Prigozhin met with Putin briefly afterward and then fled the country.

Richard Moore, the head of the United Kingdom's Secret Intelligence Service, MI6, told Politico that "Prigozhin's uprising was indicative of 'deep fractures' within the Russian elite and that Putin had to realize something was 'deeply rotten' in his country, even if he could not speak to the Russian leader's current mental state."

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According to Moore, "Prigozhin started off as a traitor at breakfast. He had been pardoned by supper and then a few days later he was invited for tea. I don't think it needs all the resources of MI6 to conclude that there are deep fractures within the Russian elite around Putin. If you have an invading army coming up the road at you, that indicates there has been a falling out."

Moore stressed to Politico that "the extraordinary thing was to see the way that Putin handled that, and the weakness that that demonstrated," adding that Putin's failures in Ukraine are "bleeding back onto the body politic" and that Putin "has to realize, I'm sure, that something is deeply rotten in the state of Denmark, to quote Hamlet, around him and he had to cut this deal, and it was pretty humiliating. He had to go and cut a deal through [Belarusian President Alexander] Lukashenko to save his skin on that day."

Meanwhile, Moore also noted that he is "optimistic" about Ukraine's Western-backed counteroffensive against Putin's forces and shared his vision of how the bloody war of attrition could conclude.

"Most conflicts end in some kind of negotiation. It is for Ukraine to define the terms of peace, not us. Our job is to try to put them in the strongest possible position to negotiate from a position of strength," Moore said. "No one wants to humiliate Putin, still less does anyone want to humiliate the great nation of Russia. But the route for them is very clear: Pull all your troops out … It is for Ukraine to define the terms of peace, not us."

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Politico's report continues at this link.