After 16 months of stalemate, with Russian forces bogged down by incompetence, corruption and infighting, the Ukraine war yesterday boomeranged right back at Vladimir Putin.
The rebellion by his Wagner militia is the most significant challenge to him since he came to power 23 years ago.
And though Putin´s former ally Yevgeny Prigozhin pulled back his advance on Moscow – allegedly to avoid bloodshed – two things now seem clear.
The first is the likelihood that this is the beginning of the end of the war in Ukraine.
Russian forces have been at a stalemate for over a year now, having failed to seize the Ukrainian capital in the opening days of the war, and proving unable to gain any significant new territory since. READ MORE