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Officials claim they “dug anti-tank ditches into federal highways, erected machine-gun emplacements at the city limits, and deployed infantry fighting vehicles on the streets of Moscow.” None of these claims can be verified.

As the mercenaries’ convoy headed towards the capital, Moscow residents were urged by the city’s mayor to stay at home. Sergei Sobyanin announced that Monday would be a “non-working day” in order to “minimize risks”.

Prigozhin, the Putin ally who had amassed power and influence as the Wagner paramilitary group boss, had declared war in a social media post.

He claimed he was declaring war on the Russian Ministry of Defense. And the Wagner troops marched unopposed into the southern city of Rostov-on-Don in what he called a “march of justice”. 

Armed by the Kremlin to fight in Ukraine, the Putin empowered warlord was supposedly redirecting his forces at his enemies inside Russia. And international experts were claiming this was the most severe threat to the Kremlin since the 1991 Soviet coup d’état attempt.

In his “march for justice” videos posted on social media early on Saturday, Prigozhin said it was Friday night and he was at the headquarters of the southern military district (SMD) in Rostov-on-Don where his forces had taken control. This would put him, 1,000 km (621 miles) south of Moscow.

US experts continue to breathlessly talk about the so-called coup attempt. But some of us can’t help but notice that none of the math adds up. And in the words of a Hans Christian Andersen fairytale, “The emperor has no clothes.” 

Spoiler Alert: In this case, Putin may not be the emperor.