Russia’s elite feared a civil war as one of the most deadly mercenary battalions marched on Moscow.
Flight tracking data and one source said some private jets left Moscow as Putin faced his toughest public threat in 23 years.
If Yevgeny Prigozhin’s Wagner mercenary gang entered Moscow, they could take over the economy and force another transfer of ownership in Russia, the world’s largest natural resource supplier.
When Prigozhin’s forces pulled back just over 200 km (150 miles) from Moscow, a new dread set in that Putin, enraged by his humiliation, would tighten the screws and seek revenge on those considered unloyal.
“A new reality has dawned in Russia,” a senior Russian source told Reuters.
“Why the past tense?” “How can you say anything is finished?” asked the source. “The events of Saturday have shown that armed men can at any moment bend the whole country to their will.”
Another top Moscow source, who requested anonymity, said fear won in the chaotic hours of Saturday and that many rushed to get their families out of Moscow.
That insider indicated that Putin’s authority had been harmed, but it was too early to draw broad conclusions from circumstances that didn’t make sense.
“The speed and gravity of whatever this was has completely shocked everyone, including the Kremlin,” the person said.
About a dozen Russian elite told Reuters they were nervous as the rebellion progressed, the biggest internal challenge to the Russian state since the 1991 coup attempt against Mikhail Gorbachev as the Soviet Union collapsed.
After 16 months of war in Ukraine, Putin’s Russia is fractured.
“Anyone with anything to lose was extremely tense,” said a source familiar with Russian business and political elite thinking.
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