we're going to ask masha gessen of the new york. the russia public saw something extraordinary, a choice, it will something that changes russia even if it doesn't alter putin's control in the short term. let's get our reporting and the news from russian tv that vladimir putin will speak tonight. joining me now from moscow is nbc news chief international correspondent keir simmons. so keir, this news that he's going to speak, it's 10:00 there. when do we expect this to happen? >> reporter: we don't know, katy, and we don't know what he's going to say. dmitry peskov, the spokesperson for the kremlin said he will make a series of important announcements. we can speculate on it what it will be, but it's incredibly hard to predict the turn of events here in moscow. i do think that president putin will have felt that he needed to say something, the kremlin releasing a video of him giving a speech to young russian engineers today that did not in any way address the rebellion that rocked russia over the weekend. may even have been recorded

and we're now joined by masha gessen, staff writer for the new yorker and author of the book "surviving autocracy," which won the u.s. national book award in 2017. masha has been covering russia and vladimir putin for years. masha, it's good to meet you. thank you for doing this. as we see ukraine stepping up its military activities right now, let's take a listen to putin's reaction. >> translator: it can be stated with absolute certainty that the counteroffensive has begun. the ukrainian troops have not achieved the tasks assigned to them in any of the main sectors of the military operations. this is an absolutely obvious thing. >> so obviously, masha, there a defiant putin. what are the risks that putin faces right now? >> you know, actually, i need to correct the translation because putin did not say that the counteroffensive has begun. putin said the offensive has begun. because russia has still not admitted that it's waging war in ukraine. russia calls it a special military operation. and so putin is very careful in that statement that he made a couple of days ago to not use the wo

i want to go now to masha gessen, a staff writer at the new yorker who's been writing about putin's russiaiography of putin. masha, we've been covering this on the show. prigozhin is a strange figure. he's putin's chef, he ran a -- that essentially oversaw the efforts to disrupt the 2016 election in certain cases. he runs this wagner group, which is deployed in syria and all other places in mali, as mercenaries. he's been ringing leasing these increasingly antagonistic videos over a month. going after sergey surovikin, who runs the russian military. there's a question of is this real? is this performance? this looks real now, yes? >> i think it's always looked real. right? this is what we've been looking at. it's prigozhin is a very scary man. he's been -- as putin's in for sure. he served as putin's shop troops. he's wielded to private armies in syria and now in ukraine. his grown exasperated, his exasperation has been reflected in what seems to be realtime on telegram. over the last few weeks, especially. the ministry of defense, and the presidential administration, has real telita. by b

. >> masha gessen live for us this evening. masha, thank you very much, greatly appreciated. after the break, how intelligence communities around the world will react and move forward as this potential power struggle in russia continues to unfold, stay with us. unfold, stay with us he snores like an angry rhino. you've never heard an angry rhino. baby i hear one every night... every night. okay... i'll work on that. the queen sleep number 360 c2 smart bed is now only $899. plus, 48-month financing on all smart beds. shop now only at sleep number after switching to the farmer's dog we noticed so many improvements in remi's health. his allergies were going away and he just had amazing energy. it looks like nutritious food, and it is. i'm investing in my dog's health and happiness. get started at longlivedogs.com ♪ tourists tourists that turn into scientists. tourists photographing thousands of miles of remote coral reefs. that can be analyzed by ai in real time. ♪ so researchers can identify which areas are at risk. and help life underwater flourish. ♪ with the freestyle libre

ahead, how this impacts putin's hold on power, russian american journalist masha gessen joins us.d of roe. congresswoman jayapal on where reproductive rights in this country stand now. this is american voices. we begin this hour with a new stage of the war in ukraine. as russia moves forward from an armed mercenary rebellion inside its own borders. the latest, ukraine's president zelenskyy spoke on the phone with president biden just hours ago. zelenskyy calling it a quote positive and inspiring conversation. ukraine is counting on u.s. support for its counteroffensive against russia. with the wagner rebellion against putin could also provide an opportunity. lorenzo tundra writing quote since the beginning of the full scale invasion ukraine has crept internal instability in russia with hope that the turmoil could somehow undermine putin's power and result in the end of the war. the lasting impact on putin's power yet to be seen. but forme

rhodes former deputy national security adviser to president obama obama, and an msnbc contributor, masha gessen, the staff writer of surviving autocracy. ben, what just happened here? it has been a whirlwind weekend >>. it's very hard for someone like me and a lot of people to make sense of exactly where we are. >> well, we are in new and uncharted territory. the reality, alex, this has kind of been building for months. the wagner forces, up to 25,000 people under arms. they were on the frontlines in the ukrainian city of bakhmut. they were grinding it out day after day in the most brutal fighting of the war. prigozhin increasingly was taking aim at the russian military high command. particularly under the -- he was saying they were hanging the forces to. dry they weren't providing with ammunition or cover. threatening all kinds of things towards russian military on command. now the way putin has set up the regime, he's had this kind of competing and corrupt the thumb. prigozhin is corrupt. there are other war lords. their provincial leaders. but we have not seen thus far is somebody standing u