Me stating the obvious in the Financial Times: НАСТОЯЩИЙ МАТЕРИАЛ (ИНФОРМАЦИЯ) ПРОИЗВЕДЕН, РАСПРОСТРАНЕН И (ИЛИ) НАПРАВЛЕН ИНОСТРАННЫМ АГЕНТОМ (НАИМЕНОВАНИЕ, ФАМИЛИЯ, ИМЯ ОТЧЕСТВО (ПРИ НАЛИЧИИ), СОДЕРЖАЩАЯСЯ В РЕЕСТР ИНОСТРАННЫХ АГЕНТОВ) ЛИБО КАСАЕТСЯ ДЕЯТЕЛЬНОСТИ ИНОСТРАННОГО АГЕНТА (НАИМЕНОВАНИЕ, ФАМИЛИЯ, ИМЯ, ОТЧЕСТВО (ПРИ НАЛИЧИИ), СОДЕРЖАЩАЯСЯ В РЕЕСТР ИНОСТРАННЫХ АГЕНТОВ) “You can’t see this as anything other than a sign of weakness and dysfunction,” said Ekaterina Schulmann, a Russian political scientist. “This isn’t some kind of unexpected one-off event or external shock. This is part and parcel of the war,” she said. The Kremlin insisted on Saturday that Prigozhin’s revolt would have no effect on its handling of the war. But Wagner’s prominent role on the front lines was itself a consequence of how Russia mishandled the invasion. Initially formed to fight covertly in conflicts around the world, Putin redeployed Wagner’s men to Ukraine when the invasion plan failed. He then let Prigozhin swell his ranks by personally signing pardons for convicted criminals who joined up to fight. “They started a war they shouldn’t have, they couldn’t run it properly, and they decided to resort to extremes by letting him round up an army of prisoners,” Schulmann said. “He became a political actor, and they had to deal with it. One thing leads to another.”