Vladimir Putin 'has no one to blame but himself' on Wagner: Ex-official

Experts argue that the recent conflict may pose a threat to Vladimir Putin's political stability.

Russian president Vladimir Putin only has himself to blame after facing a direct military challenge from Wagner group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin, former US defense secretary Leon Panetta said. Wagner group's private mercenaries staged a rebellion against the Kremlin before a deal was brokered. In exchange for turning his troops away from Moscow, Yevgeny Prigozhin agreed to leave the country for Belarus.

Russian president Vladimir Putin walks down the steps to address troops from the defence ministry. (AFP)

The Russian leader kept a relatively low profile during the turmoil but some experts argue that the recent conflict may pose a threat to Vladimir Putin's political stability.

"Any time there's chaos and instability, any leader faces problems as a result of that," Panetta said, adding, "But particularly an autocrat like Putin, who...his basic claim to power is that he controls what's going on in Russia. And what happened indicates that his control was not there."

Putin is "paying the price for something he created", he said, explaining, “I think the bottom line here is that Putin is the one who's paying a price for something he created. He's the one who put together the Wagner group...He's deployed them to Asia, to Africa, to Ukraine, where they've committed all kinds of atrocities. And then, when Prigozhin started speaking out and criticizing both Putin as well as the Russian military, Putin took no steps really to discipline Prigozhin. So likely the bottom line here is Putin has no one to blame but himself for what occurred in Russia.”