In the days since the brief revolt by the Wagner Group fighters and their leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Russian President Vladimir Putin has appeared in public several times, praising the Russian security forces as being “united” in their response and having prevented “civil war” in Russia.
But how were the fighters in the private military company able to take control of the southern military headquarters in Rostov-on-Don so easily, with little resistance? How did they occupy the air base in Millerovo, further north, and other military facilities along the route to Moscow, before stopping some 200 kilometers (125 miles) from the Russian capital? And did Prigozhin have support from within the Russian military?
