Putin has never looked weaker – it is hard to see how he can ever recover

The Russian president may not be able to win a war on two fronts, writes Mary Dejevsky. His address in the wake of the Wagner uprising sounded desperate instead of defiant

Russia president Vladimir Putin (Sputnik)

At 10am this morning, Moscow time, Vladimir Putin went on Russian state television with a recorded message that few, including the president himself, can ever have imagined him delivering.

“I am appealing to the citizens of Russia, to the armed forces, to the institutions of law enforcement, to the special services, to the soldiers and commanders who are currently fighting on the front line... I’m appealing also to those who have been drawn into... such a serious crime as armed rebellion.”

Peppering his short speech with words like “revolt”, “betrayal” and “treason”, he conceded that a part of his country – and not just any part, but the nerve centre for military operations in Ukraine at Rostov-on-Don – was out of Moscow’s control and answering to Yevgeny Prigozhin, the founder and commander of the mercenary Wagner Group.