russia in crisis. the weekend mutiny by russian mercenaries exposes putin s vulnerability, forcing him to cut a deal with the man he had called a traitor just hours before. that man, hot dog vendor turned war lord yevgeny prigozhin was apparently allowed to flee to belarus. we re going to take a deep dive into what happens next for him and his wagner group. and it s becoming increasingly clear that republican voters don t care how corrupt their candidates are. donald trump s lead is actually growing in the crowded republican presidential field. make that make sense. but we begin tonight with a wild weekend in the unprecedented challenge to more than two decades of vladimir putin s grip on russia. the armed rebellion has ended, but the uncertainty it sparked continues. the russian war lord behind that attempted insurrection. wagner group leader yevgeny prigozhin remains out of sight, but he released an audio message today, claiming he wasn t seeking to overthrow putin. h
forces. so, i think putin is afraid of them. tonight, how tenuous is black vladimir putin s hold on power. what does russian infighting mean for ukraine s counteroffensive. and what did the u.s. and western allies know in advance. we gave putin no excuse to blame this on the west and blame this on nato. good evening from kyiv, ukraine. i am ali velshi. and i am here because something unprecedented unfolded over the weekend. never in 23 years under putin s russia has this happened. thousands of armed soldiers, mercenaries, taking up arms against their own country. [inaudible] this was a scene inside russia today, explosions and cities, and a private army watching through the streets, vowing to take the fight all the way to the capital. those rebel forces previously allied with putin and the russian military, even leading many of the battles and ukraine but then that ship suddenly violently ended. what exactly they were marching for remains unclear.
they re gonna be closer to, that they can define themselves and their own virtual by not being black. and so, it is unsurprising that we are seeing that already. and it isn t surprising that we see additional political candidates, not just former president trump, engaging in this type of rhetoric. and by the way, ron desantis s people, italian immigrants, you have made your point brilliantly. wesley lowery, as always, wesley lowery author of american light clash i want my copy signed when i see you. you ve got it, joy. thank you. and that is tonight s reidout. ali velshi is next with an msnbc special report russia in crisis live from kyiv. don t go anywhere. go anywhere. tonight, three days after the start of an armed rebellion this is a criminal activity which is weakening the country. putin promises justice, but is it every billion actually over? they must have signaled that they re not laying down their