Power Structure Putin News Today

a good sunday evening to you. im jim sciutto. and welcome back to cnn special live coverage of the russian rebellion that erupted without warning and ended quickly this weekend not long after it began. yet -- and we should be clear -- the world is only beginning to assess the fallout. there are growing questions tonight about vladimir putins leadership going forward and whether his iron grip on russia is weakening. the crash site of a russian military plane reportedly brought down by t...

It caused him some damage. definitely, yes. there is some other thing that you can think of now. a lot of people will think, well, maybe putin knows its not as bad. you could have someone like prigozhin being in charge. that could potentially benefit him in some way. but definitely it showed that he doesnt have full control of the situation and russia was all of the bad and good things. >> prigozhin was perceived as a threat to putin even before this attempt in the last 24, 48 hours here. is pri...

Weapons, and its getting out of control. i think he probably was very nervous about it. but they work very closely with gru, his top spy agency. and he has a lot of friends over there too. so, there are a lot of things that conflict was brewing for some time. but the end is just very, very curious. i think we have to be vigilant and pay attention, next steps that prigozhin is going to do and putin is going to do. >> in terms of the effect of the ongoing war in ukraine, is this an opportunity for...

Id say this from an intelligence standpoint, any time you have a nuclear power the in a situation like this, you get real sensitive about the status of their nuclear forces. so, thatll be, im quite sure, uppermost in the minds of the intelligence community. >> was there at any point, do you think, this weekend the threat that russias nuclear weapons were at risk? >> no, i didnt. i didnt. and i felt that way from -- ever since the invasion. despite the threats, that obviously the probability of u...

If he were to leave power, what kind of person, shall i say, from what category, would be most likely to replace him? would it be someone more aggressive? >> well, i think it would -- it would all depend on the circumstances of his departure, if he were to depart. ive always -- you know, he does have a close inner circle, which is held together pretty well. ive always wondered about his national security adviser equivalent, as to whether he might emerge. but a long-time crony, kgb crony, of puti...

Leadership going forward and whether his iron grip on russia is weakening. the crash site of a russian military plane reportedly brought down by the wagner group yesterday. the cause of the crash not clear. but footage indicates the aircraft had been struck by a missile or rocket. theres still no sign of vladimirs leader, yevgeny prigozhin, who led this march on russia, af he cut a deal to go into belarus. also not seen, putin. were going to have the latest on the white house reaction and presid...

Apparently belarus brokered, that hes supposed to be heading to belarus. cnn did reach out to -- he does have a press service. they say that they will get back in touch when he has communication. we simply do not know where he is right now. very silent since that message saying that he was turning his troops around. should note, we also havent heard from vladimir putin. the key players in all of this are completely silent. >> well, its amazing. hes got his own army. hes got his own messaging ser...

Hoping for something for concrete, perhaps civil war. he added that hes still confident that will happen. while attention was diverted away from the war ever so briefly, the fighting did go on. sunday, ukrainian defense officials claimed their forces had seized a kilometer stretch of trenches near the town of bakhmut, killing, capturing, or wounding an entire battalion, though they didnt give exact numbers. it was a limited tactical success, but the much anticipated counteroffensive has yet to h...