Wagner Group leader Prigozhin has stated that he has proved his point and will order his soldiers to stop their advancements on Moscow and return to the barracks in order to avoid “bloodshed”.
It has been a crazy 24 hour period in Russian history as a group that has been fighting side by side with the Russian military in Ukraine since the start of the war decided to turn on the very people running the operation, accusing them of sending troops into a “meat grinder.”. In less than 24 hours of the Wagner Group’s “Justice March,” they were within 200 kilometres of Moscow.
What does this mean for Putin?
This has shown Putin that now more than ever he has to be careful with how he approaches the war in Ukraine, with the main reason for the threat of a mutiny being the lack of weapons and support for the troops in Ukraine. This could lead to an increase in weapon purchases from Russian allies like China and Iran. However, one of the main things this event will have done is cast doubt on the Russian people, who for well over a year never really noticed the effects of the “special military operation” on their day-to-day lives. Yes, certain foreign businesses and imports were no longer operating or could be purchased.
How does this affect the war in Ukraine?
The Ukrainian fighters will most probably become even more motivated by the recent events, as we have had weeks of heavy fighting with very little gains to show for it, but the past 24 hours will show them that Russia is a very unstable place, and they might try to capitalise on the fact that a large portion of the Wagner group is not around the front lines.
