What will Vladimir Putin do next? Putin’s widespread distaste for treason appeared to be reflected in his stern speech on state television on Saturday morning, where he accused Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin of “stabbing in the back” and treason.

The Russian president has not appeared in public since then, and no new presidential address is planned in the near future. In a pre-recorded interview on state television on Sunday – which appeared to have taken place before the uprising – Putin said he was confident about the progress of the “special operation” in Ukraine.

Anti-terrorist security measures remain in place in Moscow, but it is unclear whether the Russian president is still in the Russian capital at this time. Some predict that Putin will vent his anger in some way, either militarily in Ukraine or on those inside Russia who did not support him.

Polish MEP Radek Sikorski commented to the BBC that the Russian leader “it will probably clear up those he saw as wavering’, meaning his regime would become ‘more authoritarian and more brutal at the same time’.

US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken assessed for his part that it is too early to say what will happen next, noting that “we have not yet seen the last act”.

Speaking to CNN, he emphasized that “cracks” appeared in Putin’s power, cracks that did not exist before. This started with Wagner’s mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin questioning the case for war in Ukraine and now, there is a “direct challenge to Putin himself,” Blinken says. “This raises many profound questions that will be answered in the coming days and weeks,” he observed.

“If you put it in context, 16 months ago Putin was on the doorstep of Kiev in Ukraine, trying to take the city in a few days, and wipe the country off the map. Now, he had to defend Moscow, the capital of Russia, against a mercenary of his own making,” commented Blinken.

“Well, I think that’s clear – we’re seeing cracks appear. Where they go, if anywhere, when they get there, is very hard to say. I don’t want to speculate on that,” noted the American Foreign Minister.