The Wagner Betrayal

What Happened and Why? What Happens Next? Impact on Putin's Grip on Power

What Happened & Why? Continuation of the End of the Putin Regime

Putin and his trusted Soviet-era loyalists, mostly comprising intelligence service members, temporarily lost control over Yevgeny Prigozhin, the nationalist mercenary leader of the Wagner Group (a private military company, or PMC) and a creature of Putin’s own making. Wagner is the PMC most actively deployed by the Putin regime and serves to fulfill Russian foreign policy objectives abroad while maintaining plausible deniability. In addition to operating in Ukraine, Wagner is active in Africa and the Middle East, specifically Syria. These mercenary deployments, including the one in Ukraine, generate billions of dollars paid to Wagner by Russian and foreign governments.

(Pictures of Prigozhin in various disguises as released by the Kremlin)

Why did Prigozhin "revolt"? It was driven by his pursuit of money and power. Several weeks ago, the Ministry of Defense announced that all Russian PMCs would be required to s…