Short-Lived Mutiny in Russia Sheds Light on Putin’s Hold on Power

Andrea Kendall-Taylor, a longtime Russia intelligence analyst now at the Center for a New American Security, said the United States has limited capacity to influence events there and should focus on preventing spillover violence and disorder.

“Washington should avoid fueling the deeply held paranoia inside Russia that the U.S. or NATO will seek to exploit the chaos,” she said. “That will be important for preventing an overreaction in Moscow and over the long term if there comes a time to stabilize relations with some future Russia.”

Any way they looked at it, American officials saw the events on the ground as proof of Mr. Putin’s eroding position. For months, they have been monitoring Mr. Prigozhin’s escalating feud with the leadership of the Defense Ministry over the management of the Ukraine war, wondering as others have why Mr. Putin tolerated such open dissent and speculating about whether the Russian president was secretly encouraging it for his own political purposes.

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