Putin’s Power , Is Undermined by , Russian Mercenaries’ Revolt.<br />The revolt staged by the leader of the mercenary group Wagner represented the first notable challenge to Putin's power in two decades. .<br />While the Wagner troops turned back from Moscow over the weekend, .<br />... they easily took control of a major military base in the large city of Rostov-on-Don.<br />This whole episode has sowed really profound anxiety across Russia’s elites, Nigel Gould-Davies, Institute for Strategic Studies, via AP News.<br />[The events] severely shake confidence in Putin among those around him who matter, Nigel Gould-Davies, Institute for Strategic Studies, via AP News.<br />The leader of the Wagner group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, is a Russian oligarch and has been a close ally of Putin.<br />Hardliners in Russia's government pointed to the ease at which his troops marched on toward Moscow, and that he has been granted amnesty.<br />Prigozhin demonstrated that it’s possible to capture a city of a million people with impunity, <br />put demands to the <br />country’s leadership, , Viktor Alksnis, Hardline Critic of Putin, via AP News.<br />... refuse to obey its orders and mount military marches on Moscow while killing Russian soldiers on the way, Viktor Alksnis, Hardline Critic of Putin, via AP News.<br />Russia has moved a step <br />closer to its final and <br />irreparable collapse, Viktor Alksnis, Hardline Critic of Putin, via AP News.<br />Outside analysis has been not much better for Putin.<br />That the crisis occurred during Russia's war with Ukraine could spell disaster for Putin.<br />This is Russians killing <br />Russians on Russian territory while Russia is trying to contain a Ukrainian counteroffensive, Nigel Gould-Davies, Institute for Strategic Studies, via AP News.<br />This is not what Russia wants <br />in wartime, Nigel Gould-Davies, Institute for Strategic Studies, via AP News
