weaknesses in vladimir putin s rule. here is ukraine s president in his nightly address. translation: the longer russian aggression lasts, the degradation continues. the degradation continues. the degradation is gradually returning to its home harvest. in our conversations with leaders we have exchanged our assessments of what is happening in russia and we see the situation in the same way and know how to respond. following a weekend of uncertainty in russia, many questions still remain about the authority of president putin and the damage to his standing both at home and overseas. russia s president has not been seen since the attempted military rebellion. and neither has yevgeny prigozhin, the leader of the army of mercenary soldiers known as the wagner group. he s promised to leave russia and move to belarus. the us says the attempted armed mutiny in russia shows real cracks in president putin s authority. our analysis editor ros atkins has more. the wagner group s mut
this has been one of the most confusing and dramatic moments and recent russian history. we are very much still finding out how this armed rebellion came together. what the u.s. knew about it, what the fallout will be for russia and ukraine. frankly, the rest of the globe. on friday, the standoff began when the leader of a russian private military group posted a series of recorded video and audio messages on telegram. messages that under mind jet ross is justification for the war in ukraine and called for our march for justice. against the russian military. the man who posted these messages, the name you have certainly heard a lot through the past few days, yevgeny prigozhin. he is the leader of the russian private mercenary army known as the wagner group. a group that has been on the frontlines of russia s war in ukraine. now the wagner mercenaries are known to be some of the most brutal forces fighting in ukraine. they have recruited fighters in russian prisons, they have s
group s rebellion. i m ayman mohyeldin, let s get started. and just a matter of hours, yevgeny prigozhin and his band of mercenary rebels were able to overrun a key russian city, shut down several military aircrafts and leave the kremlin scrambling to defend the nation s capital. now, a day after that revolt abrupt resolution, we seem to be left with more questions than answers. especially concerning russia unpleasant veterans increasingly unsteady grip on power. here as u.s. secretary of state anthony blinken. i think we ve seen more cracks emerge in the russian facade. it is too soon to tell exactly where they go. and when they get there. certainly, we have all sorts of new questions that putin is going to have to address. one of those questions, how exactly did a group of armed rebels manage to get within 120 miles of moscow. today nbc news confirmed that u.s. intelligence agencies were aware of prigozhin s plans. congressional leaders on it more brief last week. acc
tonight, we begin with breaking news out of russia. a major twist in that country s war against ukraine. vladimir putin forced to confront a rebellion within his own borders. just hours ago, we learned that if guinea prigozhin, the owner and the head of the wagner group and mercenary force that has been fighting alongside the russian military and ukraine, halted his advance on to the country s capital. that announcement came shortly after prigozhin claimed he and his fighters had captured the city of rostov-on-don home to the russian military headquarters for its war in ukraine. since their invasion last year, moscow has become dependent on the back in a group to support the war efforts as they re dwindling russian forces struggle to make significant gains inside ukrainian territory. in december, the u.s. said it believed the group had an estimated 50,000 personnel inside ukraine alone. it made up of about 10,000 contractors and 40,000 convicts that were recruited from inside
there has been no sign of yevgeny prigozhin. his news service tells cnn he will answer questions when he has proper communication. one thing, though, is clear. this insurrection marks the most profound threat we ve seen to putin s 23-year-long rule, and the u.s. secretary of state says the turmoil may not be over yet. it s too soon to tell exactly where this is going to go. and i suspect that this is a moving picture, and we haven t seen the last act yet. but we can say this. first of all, what we ve seen is extraordinary, and i think you see cracks emerge that weren t there before. the military revolt lasted less than 24 hours, was it was long enough to bring into question vladimir putin s aura of invincibility and stability, damage his self-proclaimed reputation as a leader who never forgets a slight, never tolerates disloyalty. cnn international correspondent ivan watson reports on how those crucial hours played out from beginning to end. reporter: a weekend of chao