WTH Happened with the Russian Mutiny? Yaroslav Trofimov Unravels the Mystery

Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the private military company Wagner
Group, staged a rebellion against Putin’s regime in Russia on
June 24th. For a brief moment, the Wagner forces took over
Rostov-on-Don, and came within 125 miles of Moscow before coming
under heavy fire by the Russian military, and turning back. Putin
struck a deal with Belarus president Lukashenko wherein Prigozhin
was exiled to Belarus in exchange for amnesty. But who is
Prigozhin? None other than Putin’s former caterer. If it sounds
ludicrous, that’s because it is – and the media is still abuzz
with theories as to what happened. Are there cracks in Putin’s
regime? What were Prigozhin’s motives? Why the hell did Putin
meet with Prigozhin a week after the purported coup attempt? Most
troubling of all, US intelligence appears as perplexed as it was
on day one.


Yaroslav Trofimov is the Chief Foreign Affairs correspondent of
the Wall Street Journal. He covered the Taliban takeover of
Afghanistan in 2021 and has been working out of Ukraine since
January 2022. He previously served as Rome, Middle East, and
Singapore-based Asia correspondent, as bureau chief in
Afghanistan and Pakistan, and as a Dubai-based columnist on the
greater Middle East. He is the author of two books: Faith at War
(2005) and Siege of Mecca (2007).


Download the transcript here.