Former British Army officer, Colonel Richard Kemp has told GBNews that the attempted coup by the Wagner group is a “serious blow to President Putin” as it has “sown the seeds of instability in Russia in the face of a war that’s becoming increasingly unpopular.”

Speaking to GB News Saturday, he said the actions of the Wagner group does not “make military sense” as they undermine the war in Ukraine.

Col Kemp said Prigozhin’s “personal war has been against the Russian Ministry of Defence, against people he thinks have betrayed the armed forces, including the Wagner group, and have been fighting the war in Ukraine on a lie, as he puts it.”

“Whether he wants to end the conflict, I think is questionable. He certainly wants to end the way it’s being conducted and he wants it to be conducted in a more effective way.

“But it’s very hard to actually to read his military tactics on the ground because we don’t know what else is at stake, we don’t know how many forces he’s got available to him, we don’t know what other allies he has managed to put together in Russia. So it’s not really possible to say whether this is going to be a successful coup, or it’s going to be defeated.

Either way, that it’s a real blow to Putin: It’s really destabilise his regime. It could well lead -even if not directly through this action, to his own downfall.”

“In military terms, the Wagner group represents probably the most effective part of the Russian Armed Forces and now Prigozhin is pulling out from the frontline in Ukraine to advance Rostov, on Voronezh and possibly even on Moscow, that in itself, weakens Russia’s defence of Ukraine.

“But on top of that, it’s been spreading division for many months between soldiers on the ground and the Ukrainian High Command and the elites in Moscow. And I think his latest statements, which include saying that the whole war is based on a lie, can only help spread discontent and reduce morale in the forces in the frontline in Ukraine and the Russian forces.

“If it comes to outright fighting, which may do between Russian forces and Wagner mercenaries, then that will also have an impact on the frontline.”

Col Kemp, who commanded the Royal Anglians in Afghanistan during Operation HERRICK, said he thought Putin had “brought the situation about himself by allowing mercenary groups working inside Russia and in Ukraine and on behalf of Russia around the world to have the autonomy they’ve had.”

“The Wagner group are a significant fighting force that’s battle hardened, they seem to be ready to take on the Russian Armed Forces as they need to fight to prevail in this situation inside Russia.

“We’ve heard reports that some Russian regular forces have gone over onto the bargaining side: I don’t know how true they are or how significant that is, but so far, with the exception of reports of some helicopter action, possibly against Wagner, we haven’t really seen the Russian forces doing anything much against so far to try and stop them from getting to Moscow.”

Col Kemp said he believed Prigozhin will have “garnered support from outside, whether that’s among the National Guard or other elements of the security forces or indeed, high ranking people in the Kremlin.”