Vladimir Putin’s hold on power weakening, many Russians believe: report

Moscow: After mercenary commander Yevgeny Prigozhin led his column of tanks and fighters just within 200 km of Moscow the other day, many business elites in Russia are not ready to accept Putin’s claim that he is firmly in control, according to Bloomberg.

Prigozhin left the world in shock, especially most of the Russia's rivals including the US, after he led an armed revolt on Saturday from the Ukrainian border to within the ambit of Moscow; however he later called off the uprising.

Putin’s failure in handling the uprising came as a shock to many of the top business leaders of the nation, and it is more shocking than was his invasion of Ukraine a year ago, according to the report.

A former senior official described Yevgeny Prigozhin leading the column as banana republic after the incident has gone unpunished.

Prigozhin faced no criminal charges for leading the tanks to leave for neighbouring Belarus.

The uprising reportedly showed that the 70-year-old Putin, who previously exuded power and charisma, is apparently ‘out of touch’ and is not able to take control of the situation.

This comes at a time when Putin is facing international criticism over his invasion of Ukraine.

Prigozhin, head of the mercenary Wagner group, earlier reportedly said that his troops were on a “march for justice".

Following the Prigozhin incident a different report said that Russia has slipped from being a military power to a ‘politically insecure nation’.