The mutiny in Russia may be over. But it still damages Putin

https://www.npr.org/2023/06/24/ [login to see] /russia-wagner-putin-analysis-prigozhin
A mutiny by Russia's Wagner Group of mercenaries appears to have ended with the leader recalling his troops, but the uprising may have done irreparable damage to the image of President Vladimir Putin at home and abroad, analysts say.

Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of the shadowy private army that has played an outsized role in the fighting in Ukraine, claimed on Saturday to be in control of Russia's military headquarters in the city of Rostov-on-Don, a key installation the Kremlin has used as a base for its offensive operations in Ukraine. Wagner forces then began making their way toward Moscow in what looked to the outside world like an attempted coup d'etat.

Within hours, however, Prigozhin — a former close confidant of Putin who had accused Russia's military leadership of attacking and killing his soldiers — said he had commanded his forces to return to their bases.

Alexander Gabuev, director of the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center, says despite the apparent end of the mutiny, the Russian leader will undoubtedly be weakened by the strong challenge to his authority.