Vladimir Putin faces second coup plot as expert warns of Wagner return

Grozez predicted Prigozhin's previous coup attempt in January when he suggested the attack would come within six months.

The expert is part of an investigative group that has exposed Russian plots and assassinations during the war in Ukraine.

The latest attempt on June 23 ended when Prigozhin called off his forces' advances amid a brokered truce from Belarus.

"Putin went on TV and called Prigozhin a traitor. Everyone knows what they do with ‘traitors’ and Putin hasn’t done that.

"He wants to see him dead. He can’t do that yet," the investigator told the Financial Times.

"In six months Prigozhin will either be dead or there will be a second coup."

Grozez claims that the next revolt will be led by elites unhappy with the state of the war in Ukraine.

He suggested that a "reversal of fortunes on the frontline" could be the ultimate trigger.

The investigator said: “I don’t think any part of the elite, except in the military-industrial complex, sees any sense for them in this war.

“But they’re not speaking out because it’s a prisoner’s dilemma. They don’t want to be the first ones to move or the only ones.

"It could go one of two ways. Either the prisoner’s dilemma can be broken, or they will just get rid of him through a better-coordinated coup.

"You don’t have that yet among the oligarchs, or with any of the ministers, or the FSB.

"But it is unpalatable for the rest of the elite to live in a North Korea 2.1 with their bank accounts frozen.

"Other triggers could happen. Say a reversal of fortunes on the frontline.”