Wagner's boss was not the protagonist of Saturday's uprising. It was the tool. Prigozhin would not have launched his uprising unless he believed that other instances of power would come to his aid. If General Surovikin was involved in last weekend's events, it would be the latest sign of the infighting that has manifested itself in Russia's military leadership. Putin's inner circle maintains a program of maximums that includes taking Kiev but at the same time an approach of attrition in the hope that the solid Ukrainian response will falter in the medium term.
Many questions remained unanswered as the day ended in Moscow, but the outlines of a deal Prigozhin had negotiated with the leader of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, serving as a mediator, began to come into focus.