the British government does not exclude the “unexpected collapse” of the Russian Federation

Great Britain must be ready for the “unexpected collapse” of Russia so that similar events do not catch London by surprise. This is what the representatives of the British authorities are saying after the PMC “Wagner” mutiny demand last Friday and Saturday, – writes The Times on Monday.

As the newspaper notes, British experts, including government officials, assumed that the war in Ukraine could lead to increased instability in Russia itself, however, the pace of development of events related to the rebellion prompted government experts to prepare action plans for various scenarios, including chaos in of Russia

“This can only be the first chapter,” noted a high-ranking representative of the British government. The publication quotes a number of former high-ranking officials who say that London did not expect the events that occurred in Russia. It is noted that they weakened President Vladimir Putin. A number of commentators, however, noted that the capture of Yevgeny Prigozhin would probably be an even worse scenario for the West than the failure of the rebellion.

The Daily Express reports the comments of influential members of parliament. The head of the defense committee of the House of Commons, Tobias Ellwood, in particular, believes that Russia has entered a period of great instability. He expressed the opinion that “Putin’s days are numbered” because he showed his weakness. Another deputy, Bob Sily, believes that the events will hit the fighting spirit of the Russian army and, on the contrary, cheer up the Ukrainian military.

British Treasury Secretary John Glenn emphasized that London will not interfere in Russia’s internal affairs. Many other representatives of Western countries, including NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and the head of the EU foreign policy department, Josep Borrell, made the same message. “What happened this weekend shows that the conflict in Ukraine is splitting the Russian government and affecting its political system,” Borrell said at a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg on Monday. At the same time, he compared PMC “Wagner” with a monster that “acts against its creator” – referring to Putin. Stoltenberg, in turn, noted that the rebellion was another proof of the “strategic mistake” committed by Putin, who decided to attack Ukraine.