The international community believes the next 48 hours will be “critical” for Russia

He Advisor to the Ukrainian Presidency Mikhailo Podoliak believes that the next 48 hours will decide the future of Russia if the maneuver against the Russian Ministry of Defense launched by the leader of the Wagner mercenary group, Yevgeni Prigozhinwhose troops have taken Rostov headquarters and are on their way to Moscow.

“The next 48 hours will determine Russia’s new status. Either it degenerates into full-blown civil war, or it opens a negotiated transfer of power, or it presupposes an episode before the next stage of Vladimir Putin’s downfall,” he has said. announced on his Twitter account.

“All potential players are now deciding which side to be on,” the advisor added in a post published shortly after exactly one of these actors. Chechen leader Ramzan Kadirovexpressed unwavering support for the Russian president despite this “stab in the back”, the most commonly used expression by the Russian authorities, with the president at the head, to describe what happened.

Several Russian politicians, deputies and regional leaders have also sided with the president after he called for the unity of the country to respond to the uprising started by the mercenaries of the Wagner group.

For his part, the entrepreneur Russian opponent Mikhail KhodorkovskyRussia’s richest man until his conviction and exile today urged to help the rebels in their actions against the Russian military command, “because the real enemy is not in Kiev, but in Moscow”.

The international community is waiting

Several international leaders have confined themselves to reacting with great caution to the progression of events, starting with the European Union, which views the situation as a “internal affairs of Russia” and for now it is limited to “monitoring the situation”, in the words of European Commission spokesman Eric Mamer.

However, neighboring countries such as Estonia They have expressed greater concern, as the country’s prime minister, Kaja Kallas, conveyed this Saturday, confirming that she has issued an order to “strengthen border security”.

Polandbordering Ukraine and Belarus, is also particularly interested in monitoring the situation, as its president, Andrzej Duda, has said.

They too have reacted cautiously French President Emmanuel Macron who, according to the Elysee, is also closely following what happened, as well as the Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who wanted to point out that Wagner’s rebellion “is a testimony to how the aggression against Ukraine is also causing instability within the Russian Federation”. Several political leaders have also seen this mafia attempt as “a sign of Putin’s collapse”.

For his part, he Austrian chancellorKarl Nehammer, has shown his fear of the situation of the Russian nuclear arsenal.

Russian answer

Russia has cut more than 300 kilometers of the highway leading from Rostov to Moscow through Voronezh to prevent Wagner’s mercenaries from reaching the Russian capital, the region’s governor, Alexandr Gusev, reported today.

Russia faces the “most significant challenge” in recent times and the “loyalty” of its security forces will be “key” to the outcome of the crisis, according to the latest military intelligence report released by the Ministry on Saturday. of Defense of the Kingdom. .