Moscow, 26th June 2023: The entire country of Russia is under silence after the dramatic end to an armed uprising that posed the greatest threat to Vladimir Putin’s almost quarter-century rule.
The man who led the insurgency has been unusually silent. The president has not been seen publicly since calling the mutiny “treason” and promising “harsh” punishment, which never came to pass.
In a late-night bargain, a fascinated international audience saw troops loyal to Russian mercenary Yevgeny Prigozhin advance hundreds of kilometres towards Moscow at a breakneck pace, only for him to abruptly call off the assault and offer to go into exile with all charges dropped.
The quick sequence of events has left the United States, and Europe perplexed about the political ramifications of a rebellion that has damaged Putin’s unassailable image as Russia’s leader.
The issue arose amid profound tensions in Russia over Ukraine’s faltering war, Europe’s largest conflict since World War II, as a Ukrainian counteroffensive continues to push Russian forces out of occupied regions.
