The short-lived rebellion by Yevgeny Prigozhin, leader of the mercenary Wagner Group, did not yet jettison the Kremlin's military leadership. But it may have had a more profound domestic and geopolitical impact: piercing the aura of invincibility so carefully cultivated by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
How this plays out in Moscow with military, political and economic elites, let alone regular Russians, remains to be seen. But it should further steel Kyiv — as well as Washington and Brussels, home to NATO — for maximum support for Ukraine's counteroffensive.
While the opaque nature of Russian politics and the fluidity of the situation leave more questions than answers, "What we do know is this was a demonstrable crack into [Putin's] strength at home," U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., told an editorial writer. "This shows that there is weakness in his regime."
