I heard that some Wagner mercs are already laying down their arms and asking to be shipped back to their old positions on the front; they are saying Prigozhin “misled” them, that it wasn’t immediately clear he was trying to start a coup, etc. They may or may not be telling the truth here. But the Russian government is apparently offering blanket amnesty to all Wagner fighters who surrender, on the rationale that they were “betrayed” by their own leader. (Source: Hindustan Times, which is quite pro-Russian, but also not the most serious news outlet in the world, so take whatever they say with a couple grains of salt).

Prigozhin has always been, at best, a nut. One can’t doubt his bravery, but one questions his brains, and certainly now his loyalty. He’s had, up until now, a certain following in the west, simply because he’s such a colorful figure – like Igor Strelkov way back at the begining of the conflict; though Russell Bentley, who I tend to trust on these things, was critical of Strelkov early on. The whole stunt with dead servicemen probably should have convinced the Russian government that Prigozhin was not well, or at rate simply not reliable; that he has been allowed to remain at the front for so long is very odd.