we can t have these conversations without you, so i know you are juggling a lot of things. but thank you very much for making some time to talk to us. we re grateful. e time to talk to us we re grateful . ,. . it to the to th according to russian state media, the criminal case against yevgeny prigozhin, the head of the wagner group, a private mercenary army in russia critical to russia s ability to wage war in ukraine, will be dropped. that s what they re saying at least. and he will be an exile in belarus. so far, it is not clear if you will actually give up leadership or commands of the wagner group. but he sent a voice note signaling that his forces would stand down. that order comes after a day of putin back negotiations with prigozhin to avoid russian losses inside russian territory. with promises of safety guarantees for the wagner fighters. until just a few hours ago, wagner forces were marching toward moscow. appearing to be ready to wage an armed result against
we begin with a stunning reversal of the rebellion and russia. wagner fighters, led by getting a rousing send off of a wild 24-hour march on moscow. it began when he announced that man had taken over headquarters and rostov, and it has leading a so-called justice march towards moscow. fighting was reported along the way, and wagner forces got stopped to yell its before moscow. you called off the rebellion and agreed to leave russia. russian residents getting a heroes sendoff. russian officials said he agreed to travel to belarus. a lot of questions about what happened, and what comes next. analysts now chalk it up to a murky power struggle. i don t think it was a stunt. i think it was a mutiny. i think that s the right word. not a coup d état, a fight among armed forces to take over, but to be loyal to putin with dramatic consequences for undermining stability and the consolidation of russian armed forces. questions still remain about the future in exile. i suspect h
good evening and welcome from the site of the aspen ideas festival, an annual gathering of thought leaders. more about what brings us here in a bit. but let s start with the rebellion in russia. and as a measure of just how rapidly events have unfolded there since the weekend, president putin today publicly thanking members of the wagner group, the very same mercenary group that challenged his control of the russian military. putin now saying most of the wagner fighters are patriots who helped avert bloodshed. putin in remarks to the russian people, though, leaving little doubt he will not let bygones be bygones when it comes to the wagner leader yevgeny prigozhin, who led what putin calls a mutiny. prigozhin also speaking tonight, backtracking on why he marched his troops toward moscow, and his whereabouts uncertain as the weekend chaos has now turned to lingering trepidation involving a nuclear superpower. we begin with keir simmons, who is in moscow. reporter: tonight president vl
a lot of questions about what happened, and what comes next. analysts now chalk it up to a murky power struggle. i don t think it was a stunt. i think it was a mutiny. i think that s the right word. not a coup d état, a fight among armed forces to take over, but to be loyal to putin with dramatic consequences for undermining stability and the consolidation of russian armed forces. questions still remain about the future in exile. i suspect his plans unraveled as he started to march his troops toward moscow. i think he saw the writing on the wall, that he was not going to be able to be successful. i think moscow could ve brought out a fair amount of firepower, including air power against that convoy.
he started to march his troops toward moscow. i think you saw the writing on the wall, that he was not going to be able to be successful. i think moscow could ve brought down a fair amount of firepower including air power against that convoy. i don t think that he was hoping that this was going to eventually result in the deal that supposedly has been struck. so although he might have agreed to this amnesty agreement, i think he might have in fact signed his death warrant. because as has been said, putin is a very, very vindictive individual. and they have humiliated him. but for putin, i think as a hot mess on his hands right now. the wagner group, the fate of which is uncertain given that prigozhin s faith i think is not going to be with that group, the wagner group has been very instrumental in terms of prosecuting the war effort of russia and ukraine. not only knew crane, but in other parts of the world as the wagner group is this leading sphere of russian influence and