INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
treason charges and accept exile in Belarus.The agreement ended the immediate threat that Yevgeny Prigozhin's private army could storm
Moscow, but analysts said Wagner's revolt had exposed Putin's rule as more fragile than had been thought."Anti-terror" security measures
were still in place in Moscow on Sunday, although fewer police were visible and passers-by said they were unconcerned, despite Prigozhin's
military headquarters, to the cheers of a group of young civilian bystanders, who came to shake his hand through the car window.Trucks
the Voronezh and Lipetsk regions northwards to Moscow said more forward Wagner units had also turned back.There were reports that Wagner
fighters had come as close as 400 kilometers from Moscow, while Prigozhin himself claimed that "in 24 hours we got 200 kilometers from
Wagner forces seized the Rostov base and advanced towards the capital.Putin denounced the action as treason and vowed to punish the
Moscow's most serious security crisis in decades.'Russian blood'Within hours of Prigozhin's surprise announcement that his forces would
counter-offensive against Russian forces in the country and mocking Putin's apparent humiliation.Analysts also said the deal had exposed
weakness in the Russian president's grip on power.Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko said he had negotiated the truce with Prigozhin
Moscow thanked him, but observers noted that an intervention by Lukashenko, usually seen as Putin's junior partner, was itself an
have the Kremlin's backing and amount to Russian influence operations to curry favor with African governments and win access to mineral
Today, it is clear."Yesterday's call for unity made by representatives of the elites only confirmed this
Behind these is a crisis of institutions and fears for themselves," he said.He noted that Russian leaders would be concerned by the sight of
civilian onlookers applauding Wagner units in Rostov."Putin's position is weakened," he said
"Putin underestimated Prigozhin, just as he underestimated Zelensky before that
He could have stopped this with a phone call to Prigozhin but he did not."The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank,
said: "The Kremlin now faces a deeply unstable equilibrium."The Lukashenko-negotiated deal is a short-term fix, not a long-term solution,
and Prigozhin's rebellion exposed severe weaknesses in the Kremlin and Russian MoD."Mercenary legionUnited States Secretary of State
Antony Blinken said, in an interview with CBS News, that Wagner's short-lived uprising had marked "a direct challenge to Putin's
authority" and "shows real cracks" in Russian state authority.Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani told the daily Il Messaggero: "The
stability and achieving development and prosperity," it said.
