MOSCOW ¨C Yevgeny Prigozhin may have called off his attempted coup just before his Wagner Group mercenaries reached Moscow, but the rebellion may nonetheless have fatally undermined Vladimir Putin¡¯s regime.
Days, weeks or even months might pass before the cracks are fully exposed, but make no mistake: Every crisis that ends with only the thinnest of resolutions, or none at all, further diminishes Putin¡¯s stature, and thus whatever support he has left among Russia¡¯s elites. His rivals are probably already eyeing the throne.
In the short run, Putin could spin the uprising¡¯s failure in his favor. After all, the masses did not rise up to join the rebellion, as Prigozhin , and Russia¡¯s armed forces stood with the Kremlin, though only half-heartedly, as demonstrated by the fact that had to be sent to Rostov-on-Don to confront Prigozhin¡¯s mercenaries. But, in time, it will become clear that none of this reflects the Putin regime¡¯s strength.
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