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U.S. President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken say Saturday's armed rebellion in Russia shows that President Vladimir Putin is clearly losing the war in Ukraine and highlights the stark contrast between Putin's grand ambitions when he started the war and where his army stands now. VOA's Diplomatic Correspondent Cindy Saine reports.
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((PLAYBOOK SLUG: US-Russia-Ukraine
HEADLINE: US: Prigozhin’s Mutiny Shows Putin’s War in Ukraine Has Failed
TEASER: Putin's decision to go to war with Ukraine has 'destroyed the future of a whole generation of Russians,' one analyst says
PUBLISHED AT: 6/28/2023 at 7:25 p.m.
BYLINE: Cindy Saine
CONTRIBUTOR:
DATELINE:
VIDEOGRAPHER:
PRODUCER:
SCRIPT EDITORS: Jepsen, Reifenrath DJ(ok)
VIDEO SOURCE (S): Saine Zoom interview, AFP, Reuters, AP, MRT))
PLATFORMS (mark with X): WEB __ TV _x_ RADIO __
TRT: 2:35
VID APPROVED BY: Jepsen
TYPE: TV,R PKG
EDITOR NOTES: ))
((INTRO: ))
[[U.S. President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken say Saturday's armed rebellion in Russia shows that President Vladimir Putin is clearly losing the war in Ukraine and highlights the stark contrast between Putin's grand ambitions when he started the war and where his army stands now. VOA's Diplomatic Correspondent Cindy Saine reports.]]
((NARRATOR))
The United States has been cautious in its response to events in Russia Saturday, when the Wagner mercenary group took control of key military sites and headed toward Moscow to oust Russia’s top military leaders until its leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin, abruptly called off the mutiny.
President Joe Biden said although it was too early to tell how much Russian President Vladimir Putin had been weakened by the armed rebellion, he is clearly losing the war in Ukraine.
((President Joe Biden))
“He's losing the war at home, and he has become a bit of a pariah around the world. It's not just NATO, it's not just the European Union, it's Japan, you know, it's 40 nations.”
((NARRATOR))
Secretary of State Antony Blinken agreed, pointing to the stark contrast between Potin’s ambitions when he started the war and where he finds himself today.
((Antony Blinken, Secretary of State))
“It is genuinely extraordinary that we've gone from a place where we were 16 months ago, where you had Russian forces on the outskirts of Kyiv. // To a place where we were this weekend, where you have forces moving on Russia’s capital, Moscow. Mercenaries of Putin’s own making. That, in a way, encapsulates the extent to which this aggression against Ukraine has been a failure across the board for Putin."
((NARRATOR))
One analyst told VOA that Putin is now trying to project strength because he knows Prigozhin undermined his authority.
[[Radio Intro: Heather Ashby is with the United States Institute of Peace. She spoke to VOA via Zoom.]]
((Heather Ashby, United States Institute of Peace)) ((Zoom))
"It demonstrated how hollow some of the government structures are because there wasn't significant military resistance to what Prigozhin was doing, more in the sense of people putting their hands up and just letting it happen to a degree."
((NARRATOR))
Ashby agreed with Biden and Blinken that Putin’s invasion of Ukraine has dealt a blow to Russia.
((Heather Ashby, United States Institute of Peace)) ((Zoom Courtesy))
"It's been a strategic disaster for the Russian state, the Russian government. It has essentially destroyed the future of a whole generation of Russians, not only those who have died in this pointless and senseless war against the Ukrainians, but also those who have left the country, those who are going to be hindered by the sanctions..."
((NARRATOR))
Prigozhin arrived in Belarus on Tuesday at the invitation of President Alexander Lukashenko, a Putin ally who claimed that he had to talk the Russian leader out of killing Prigozhin in retribution for the Wagner Group’s advance on Moscow last Saturday.
Cindy Saine, VOA News
NewsML Media TopicsArts, Culture, Entertainment and Media
NetworkVOA
Location (dateline)
Washington D.C.
Embargo DateJune 28, 2023 14:48 EDT
Byline
Cindy Saine, VOA News
Brand / Language ServiceVoice of America - English
