Here's what happened to those who defied Putin in the past

, I'M ROSEMARY CHURCH, OUR TOP STORY THIS HOUR. RUSSIAN PRESIDENT VLADIMIR PUTIN IS TRYING TO REASSERT HIS AUTHORITY AFTER A WEEKEND OF CHAOS IN THE COUNTRY. ON TUESDAY, HE TOLD RUSSIAN FORCES WHO FACED WAGNER VALIANT THAT THEY VIRTUALLY STOPPED A CIVIL WAR. YEVGENY PRIGOZHIN IS ONE OF THE FEW RUSSIANS TO HAVE OPENLY DEFIED OR CRITICIZE MOSCOW. AND THE WAR IN UKRAINE APPARENTLY WITHOUT MUCH CONSEQUENCES. CNN'S

WILL FACE PUNISHMENT, AND WE'LL ANSWER TO THE, LAW AND TO OUR PEOPLE. >> JUST AS QUICKLY AS THE INSURRECTION BECAME REALITY, A DEAL WAS BROKERED WITH THE BELARUSIAN PRESIDENT. WHILE THE SITUATION APPEARS DEFUSED FOR NOW, MANY WHO DARED TO DEFY PUTIN PAID A HEAVY PRICE. A FIERCE KREMLIN CRITIC, BORIS, WAS ONCE ONE OF RUSSIA'S PROMISING OPPOSITION LEADERS. JAILED SEVERAL TIMES FOR SPEAKING OUT AGAINST PUTIN'S GOVERNMENT.

BUT IN 2015, ON A FRIDAY NIGHT, JUST STEPS AWAY FROM THE KREMLIN, HE WAS SHOT AND KILLED. A DISSIDENT VOICE, SILENCED. FIVE CHECHEN MAN WAS LATER FOUND GUILTY AND SENTENCED TO OVER A DECADE IN PRISON. OPPOSED TO MR. PUTIN'S ROLE, THREATEN HIS ESTABLISHMENT, AND LIFE CAN TURN INTO ONE BEHIND BARS. ONCE THE MOST WEALTHY MAN IN RUSSIA, FORMER KAI TO CROSS THE LINE WITH PUTIN WHEN

HE BEGAN TO TOW THE LINE WITH OUR REFORMS, AND ACCUSE HIM OF CORRUPTION. HE WAS CHARGED WITH TAX FRAUD, SOMETHING HE SAYS WAS POLITICALLY MOTIVATED. PUTIN, THE PRIME MINISTER, WAS ASKED ABOUT THE CASE AND REPLIED THE THIEF SHOULD BE IN PRISON. THE MAXIMUM PRISON SENTENCE WAS GIVEN TO CRACK, AND HE SPENT YEARS BEHIND BARS. ALEXEI NAVALNY, A STAUNCH RUSSIAN OPPOSITION LEADER, FELL INTO A COMA, RETURNING

TO MOSCOW THREE YEARS AGO. HE WAS LATER MEDEVACED TO GERMANY WHERE HE RECOVERED. AND INVESTIGATIONS LATER CONCLUDED HE WAS POISONED WITH LEMON NERVE AGENT. NAVALNY VOWED TO KEEP FIGHTING, AN OPPOSITION TO THE KREMLIN LINGERED, AND AS HE LANDED BACK IN RUSSIA MONTHS LATER HE WAS ARRESTED. NOW HELD IN A MAXIMUM SECURITY PRISON, NAVALNY FACES A TERM EXTENSION, THAT COULD POSSIBLY SEE HIM BEHIND BARS FOR DECADES.

IT'S A FATE SEEN MANY TIMES OVER WHEN SOMEONE CROSSES MR. PUTIN, AND NOT ALL CAN ESCAPE, IT'S NOT EVEN LIVING IN EXILE. WAGNER'S YEVGENY PRIGOZHIN MAY HAVE FOUND A HAVEN AND BELARUS FOR NOW. BUT HIS SAFETY SEEMS FRAGILE FOR NOW. AT BEST. FRED PLANKTON, CNN, BERLIN. >> UKRAINIAN FOREIGN MINISTER, DMYTRO KULEBA, SAYS OFFICIALS EXPECTED AN INSIDE REBELLION AGAINST MOSCOW. BUT DID NOT KNOW WHEN IT WOULD

HAPPEN. CNN'S ERIN BURNETT SAT DOWN WITH AN EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH THE MINISTER. WHO SAYS PRIGOZHIN MAY HAVE BEEN THE FIRST, BUT CERTAINLY WILL NOT BE THE LAST TO DEFY THE RUSSIAN PRESIDENT. >> HAS THE REBELLION IN RUSSIA, AS YOU HAVE SEEN OVER JUST THESE PAST FEW DAYS, I KNOW THERE'S STILL THE PUG FOG AND CHAOS A BIT. BUT HAS IT CHANGED ANYTHING ON THE FRONTLINES. I

TALK TO OUR UKRAINIAN DRONE OPERATOR OPERATING NEAR BAKHMUT, HE SAID ON SATURDAY, THEY FELT A PALPABLE PANIC FOR THE RUSSIANS. BUT THEN SUBSEQUENTLY RETURNED TO WHAT HE SAID WOULD BE, QUOTE UNQUOTE, NORMAL. IN TERMS OF THEIR BEHAVIOR? >> IF THIS MUTINY HAD LASTED FOR 48 HOURS MORE, I THINK, I'M PRETTY SURE, THAT WE WOULD HAVE FELT A DEMORALIZING IMPACT ON THE RUSSIAN FORCES FIGHTING IN THE

SOUTH AND EAST OF UKRAINE. UNFORTUNATELY, PRIGOZHIN GAVE UP TOO QUICKLY. SO THERE WAS NO TIME FOR THIS DEMORALIZING EFFECT TOO PENETRATE RUSSIAN TRENCHES. BUT NEVERTHELESS, THIS WAS NOT THE FACTOR THAT OUR VOICES WERE COUNTING ON. IT WAS LIKE A FORCE MEASURE, SO IT DOESN'T CHANGE ANYTHING IN OUR PLAN. SO WE CAN CONTINUE OUR COUNTEROFFENSIVE. >> BUT THE FOREIGN MINISTER ADMITS THAT VLADIMIR PUTIN STILL HAS ONE

CARD UNDER HIS SLEEVE, MARSHES NUCLEAR WEAPONS. HE WARNS IT IS A GAME THAT WESTERN COUNTRIES DO NOT WANT TO PLAY WITH MOSCOW. >> IN THE CONTEXT OF PUTIN SITUATION RIGHT NOW. DO YOU THINK THAT HIS DECISION TO USE NUCLEAR FORCES IN SOME WAY IS A REAL POSSIBILITY? >> FRANKLY, I BELIEVE THAT THE FEAR OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS IS THE LAST ARGUMENT THAT PUTIN HAS IN HIS POCKET.

I THINK IT'S NOTHING THAT MORE THAN A FAIR GAME. BECAUSE PUTIN LOVES LIFE TOO MUCH. >> EVEN IF HIS POWER IS THREATENED? >> AND PEOPLE AROUND HIM LOVE LIFE EVEN MORE. AND OF COURSE, WHERE NOT -- TOUGH FORECAST FUTURE DEVELOPMENTS. BUT THE WEST WE'LL MAKE A BIG MISTAKE IF IT DECIDES