On August 23, 2023, reports emerged of a plane crash in the Tver Region of Russia; the plane was carrying the Private Military Company (PMC) Wagner’s Chief Yevgeny Prigozhin and his close aide Dmitry Utkin. The death of Prigozhin has sent ripples across the group and its loyalists and could have a long-term impact concerning its relationship with the Russian state.

Russian government troops withdrew from the streets of Moscow on Sunday and the rebellious mercenary soldiers who had occupied other cities were gone, but the short-lived revolt has weakened President Vladimir Putin just as his forces are facing a fierce counteroffensive in Ukraine.

The greatest challenge to Russian President Vladimir Putin in his more than two decades in power fizzled out relatively peacefully Saturday after the rebellious mercenary commander who ordered his troops to march on Moscow abruptly reached a deal with the Kremlin to go into exile and sounded the retreat.