"They wanted Russians to fight each other. They rubbed their hands, dreaming of taking revenge for their failures at the front and during the so-called counteroffensive. But they miscalculated."

Said Vladimir Putin, quoted in "Russia-Ukraine War/A Visibly Angry Putin Stresses Failure of Wagner Revolt/The Russian president made brief public remarks on Monday, his first since the end of the short-lived rebellion by the Wagner mercenary group and its leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin" (NYT).

"We got to within 200km of Moscow in 24 hours, without spilling a drop of the blood of our fighters. Now, the moment has come, when blood could be shed."

"Understanding the responsibility for the shedding of Russian blood by one side, we are turning back our convoys to our field camps, in accordance with our plan."

Said Yevgeny Prigozhin, quoted in "The day that changed Russia: mutiny falters but Wagner boss survives/Mercenaries march on Moscow, then turn back. Rebellion’s leader exiled to Belarus — but avoids charges" (London Times).

"Changed" — but how? 

"Now we see that only armed people can resist the dictatorship."

"Now there is a small window of opportunity when there is chaos on the streets and the security forces are not in control of the situation. If you see the strength in yourself in the future to become those armed people who will oppose Putin or Prigozhin, then it’s time to arm yourself. Prigozhin is not our friend and not even our ally. He is a bandit and a war criminal. But his rebellion is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and there won’t be another like it for a long time."

Says the Russian businessman, Mikhail B. Khodorkovsky, quoted in the NYT.

"However much Prigozhin may have previously declared that this was not a coup but a 'march for justice,' when a commander starts talking about imposing his own will on the government..."

"... and 'taking down everyone you send against us,' then that’s a coup.... It is striking that it is Prigozhin who is raising the banner of rebellion.... Before he was a restaurateur and then a businessman, Prigozhin was a petty gangster and spent nine years in Soviet prisons. He spent his twenties in labour camps, being inculcated with the remorseless macho code of the vorovskoi mir, the 'thieves’ world.' Its basic precepts — that you look after your own, never forget a slight, and never back down — appear still to drive him...."

Writes Mark Galeotti, author of "Putin’s Wars: From Chechnya to Ukraine," in "Is this the end for Putin? When history records the downfall of the Russian president, it will say the endgame started here..." (London Times).

"As Russians fought Russians for control of the country’s military, Yevgeniy Prigozhin, head of the Wagner mercenary group, boasted midafternoon on Saturday that citizens were supporting his fighters and even buying them food and drinks in shops."

WaPo reports.