For nearly 24 hours, millions of Ukrainians believed that the war with Russia might be nearing its conclusion. From 9pm on Friday, when Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin announced his march on Moscow, until 8pm on Saturday, when mercenary troops with their tanks and armoured vehicles were little more than 300km (180 miles) from the Russian capital, the battered country glimpsed the end of Putin’s regime.
Then, suddenly, when the Russian warlord called off his advance, the revived enthusiasm quickly ebbed away, giving way to disappointment and frustration, with many refusing to believe the Belarusian-brokered deal to end the armed uprising was real.
