The head of the Russia-Eurasia Program at the Chatham House James Nixey described the armed insurrection currently happening in Russia as "a revolt - not yet a coup, not yet a takeover."

He saif that the Wagner forces of mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin are unlikely to be able to succeed in taking Moscow in the face of a well-prepared Vladimir Putin.

Nixey added that "Whilst this is a useful distraction for the Ukrainians right now," Prigozhin "is not their knight in shining armor."