US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said on Sunday that the crisis caused by Wagner’s fighters’ unprecedented challenge to President Vladimir Putin’s authority may not be over and could drag on for weeks or months, Reuters reported.

Blinken said tensions that led to a mutiny by forces led by Yevgeny Prigozhin, which was put down 24 hours later, had been building for months, and that the unrest could affect Moscow’s troops in Ukraine.

“We are firmly and relentlessly focused on Ukraine, making sure it has what it needs to defend itself and take back territories seized by Russia,” Blinken told NBC.

At the same time, he told ABC that: “To the extent that the Russians will be distracted and divided, it may make it more difficult for them to carry out their aggression against Ukraine.”

On CNN, Blinken said that “of course you saw cracks emerging that weren’t there before,” and Prigozhin questioned the arguments Russia used to invade Ukraine.

About Putin’s possible departure from Moscow during the mutiny

The US secretary of state declined to comment on Vladimir Putin’s whereabouts after the armed uprising in Russia, but told CNN that

During the uprising by the Wagner PMC mercenaries, there were speculations on the Internet that Putin had left Moscow, and flight data showing his presidential plane in motion added to the uncertainty.

“I don’t want to speculate on that or the information that we have,” Blinken replied. “Again, we’re watching this closely.”

“I think one of the things that tells you is that we still don’t have a definitive answer to what was actually agreed between Prigozhin and Putin.

“I suspect in the coming days and weeks we’ll know more about what kind of deal they’ve made.”

Today on Russian state television footage of Putin was shown, but it was recorded even before the uprising led by the head of the mercenary group Wagner.

Images of tanks on the streets of Moscow are reminiscent of the final months of the Soviet Union in 1991, The Guardian writes in an analysis that suggests Vladimir Putin looks weaker than at any time since he became president in 2000.

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