But as the scale of the attack became clearer, with thousands of Ukrainian troops advancing up to 6 miles into Russia, Russian President Vladimir Putin hurried to contain the fallout. Ukraine's attack catches Russia off guardA Russian military video showing a Ukrainian tank during an attack on the Kursk region in Russia in August. It's led to fierce criticism of the Kremlin from ultranationalist bloggers, who've questioned why the Russian military was so unprepared and criticized chaotic attempts to evacuate civilians. Putin has so far been able to avoid major domestic unrest from the two-year war — despite the vast casualties it's inflicted on the Russian military. But the 2023 rebellion by the Russian mercenary group Wagner exposed Putin's vulnerability to blowback from events in Ukraine.

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Persons: —, Vladimir Putin, Alexei Smirnov, Putin, Vladimir Putin's, It's, who've, Bryden Spurling, Callum Fraser, Russia aren't, Wagner, Russia's, Fraser, Spurling, STRINGER, Ukraine's, Maxim Alyukov, it'll, Alyukov Organizations: Service, Kremlin, Business, Anadolu, Russian MOD, RAND Corp, Royal United Services Institute, Wagner, Don, Getty, King's College London Locations: Ukraine, Russia's Kursk, Russia, Russian, Kursk, US, Kharkiv, London, Rostov, Moscow