Vladimir Putin has broken his silence after an unprecedented uprising challenged his leadership on Saturday - but he completely swerved any mention of the coup that was planning to oust him.
In the most serious threat to the most powerful man in Russia, Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin said he was marching his 25,000 soldiers to Moscow with a plan to get rid of Russia's "military leadership" on Saturday.
But despite the seriousness of the event, during an address broadcast on the Kremlin's social media channels today he made no mention of what happened.
Instead, he congratulated members of an industrial forum.
Putin's appearance came around the same time Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu - the focus of Prigozhin's beef - was seen in public for the first time since the mercenary uprising demanded he be ousted.
He was filmed inspecting troops in Ukraine in a video aimed at projecting a sense of order after the country's most serious political crisis in decades.
The armed rebellion against the Russian military may have been over in less than 24 hours, but the disarray within the enemy's ranks was an unexpected gift and timely morale booster for Ukrainian troops.
The spectacle of Yevgeny Prigozhin's mutiny in the critical military command and control hub in the Russian city of Rostov-on-Don, and later Russia's scramble to fortify Moscow as troops marched to upend the country's military leadership was greeted "with applause" by commanders of Ukraine's Eastern Group of Forces, said its spokesperson, Serhii Cherevatiy.
"Soldiers at the front lines are positive about it," he said. "Any chaos and disorder on the enemy's side benefits us."
A video of well-known Ukrainian drone commander "Magyar" watching the revolt while eating enormous amounts of popcorn went viral. A plethora of gleeful memes mocking Russian leader Vladimir Putin inundated social media, and statement after statement from Ukraine's top brass described the turmoil as a sure sign of more instability to come.
The immediate crisis ended with a deal mediated by Minsk that would send Prigozhin into exile in Belarus. But for Ukrainians watching, the damage was done: Russian vulnerabilities were exposed, and by agreeing to concessions hours after branding Prigozhin a back-stabbing traitor, Putin appeared weak and desperate.
The short-lived rebellion did not noticeably affect Russian army posture along the 1,000 kilometer (600-mile) front line in eastern Ukraine, but it could give Ukraine the impetus it needs to intensify the beginning phase of its counteroffensive, which military leaders have admitted is going slower than expected.
"In the short term, it distracted attention from the war and diverted some resources from the front," said Nigel Gould-Davies, a senior fellow for Russia and Eurasia at the International Institute for Strategic Affairs. But in the longer term, he said, it shows lack of unity among Russia's fighting forces. "It's terrible for Russia's morale. The officers and soldiers alike. It's very good for Ukraine's morale."
On Russian Telegram channels, military servicemen who blog about the war urged Russian soldiers to stay focused on the war.
"Brothers! Everyone who holds a weapon at the line of contact, remember, your enemy is across from you," read one message.
Ukrainian soldier Andrii Kvasnytsia, 50, who was injured fighting in the eastern city of Bakhmut, where battles are nonstop along the southern flanks of the salt-mining town occupied by Russian troops, said "Everyone is excited."
