Ukrainians dared to dream that Wagner action could be the fatal blow in war

Kyiv's long-awaited counter-offensive has been slow, but a mutiny in the Russian lines looked like changing it all

When news of a potential civil war in Russia circulated across the country, Ukrainians struggled to believe it was real. But by Saturday morning, as footage was shared online showing the Wagner mercenary troops with their tanks and armoured vehicles advancing towards Moscow, millions of Ukrainians were glued to their mobile phones.

The Wagner chief, Yevgeny Prigozhin, has since called off the advance, but one of the first to react to the news earlier in the day was President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who did not wait for his usual evening video message to comment on the Wagner insurrection.