Silence Cloaks The Kremlin After Russian Mutiny Against Putin

President Putin hasn't been seen in public since denouncing the mutiny as "treason" and threatening "harsh" punishment that never transpired.

An eerie calm fell on Russia after the dramatic end to an armed uprising that posed the greatest threat to Vladimir Putin's almost quarter-century rule.

The man who led the insurrection has gone uncharacteristically quiet. The president hasn't been seen in public since denouncing the mutiny as "treason" and threatening "harsh" punishment that never transpired.

In a bewildering 24 hours, a transfixed international audience watched troops loyal to Russian mercenary Yevgeny Prigozhin advance hundreds of miles toward Moscow at breakneck speed only for him to suddenly call off the assault and agree to go into exile with all charges dropped in a late-night deal.

The rapid chain of events left the US and Europe puzzling over the political implications of a rebellion that shattered Vladimir Putin's invincible image as Russia's leader. The crisis unfolded amid bitter divisions in Russia over the faltering war in Ukraine that's the biggest conflict in Europe since World War II, as a Ukrainian counteroffensive continues to try to push Russian forces out of occupied territories.