Newspaper headlines: Putin 'humiliated by mutiny' and Russia 'on the brink'

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By BBC News
Staff
Reuters

A woman with a dog walks past a tank as fighters of Wagner private mercenary group are deployed in a Rostov-on-Don street near the headquarters of the Southern Military District

All of the front pages of Sunday's newspapers focus on the momentous and dramatic day in Russia as Wagner group mercenaries staged a rebellion in parts of the country. Some papers describe Vladimir Putin as being a president who is humiliated and his leadership has been left dented and damaged.

The Sun on Sunday says President Putin has been "pushed to the brink" before the Wagner mercenaries halted their march towards Moscow as the paper puts it at the "eleventh hour".

Russians will now see Putin is someone far weaker, according to the Sunday Express which claims the leader "fled" Moscow as mercenaries approached the capital.

In the Sunday Telegraph British historian Robert Tombs believes while President Putin narrowly avoided a "1917 moment", he is "gravely weakened". But, writing in the paper he also has a warning for exiled Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin - adding "mutineers tend to end up dead".

Prigozhin's last-minute de-escalation deal with President Putin prevented "bloodshed" on the streets of Russia, according to the front page of the Observer. While the paper makes a note of remarkable comments from the Mayor of Moscow who urged citizens to stay indoors.

The Mail on Sunday asks whether the Kremlin "bribed" the leader of Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, to end the mutiny, as it cites UK security official sources.

But, in the Sunday edition of the Daily Star the tabloid claims both sides are "equally bonkers".

Elsewhere, the Sunday Times quotes a former donor to Extinction Rebellion and Just Stop Oil, who believes the groups are "not accomplishing anything". The paper says Trevor Neilson - who's a Californian entrepreneur - believes the movement has lost its way.