Vladimir Putin tried this week to show he was firmly in control after the dramatic attempted mutiny by mercenary commander Yevgeny Prigozhin.
But among the Kremlin and business elite, many powerful players aren’t buying it.
A banana republic was the phrase one used to describe the spectacle of Prigozhin leading his column of tanks and fighters to within 124 miles of Moscow and then being allowed to leave for neighboring Belarus without facing criminal charges. Another said the Russian president’s botched handling of the uprising was more of a shock than Putin’s decision to invade Ukraine last year.
