The meaning of Prigozhin’s short-lived mutiny

IN THE SPRING of 2022, at the moment when it became clear that Russia’s invasion had begun to falter, the generals planning Ukraine’s campaign grasped that their resistance on the battlefield could turn Russian commanders against each other. Infighting and disunity, they calculated, would be a crucial step in bringing home to Russia and its people that the war was unwinnable—and that the country was paying an intolerable price to satisfy the vanity of their president, Vladimir Putin. It was one route to victory.