a shocking moment. so, this is very important, in many ways, for putin to reassert the supremacy of his rule. and, in my experience, the more over the top and unabashed the aggressive move by putin, that is the kind of choice he has made it again and again, to stay in power. he is the longest serving russian leader since joseph stalin and is still relatively young at age 70 years old. this is a ruthless, cutthroat system. and i think a display of naked power is exactly what one would imagine putin going for in a moment like this. it s also worth noting that another top wagner official dmitry utkin was also on that plane and they also have perished. the wagner group has been responsible, for i guess you could call, some of russia s most meaningful successes on the battlefield in ukraine. so, i wonder what you think the implications are for that more
this is a ruthless, cutthroat system. and i think a display of naked power is exactly what one would imagine putin going for in a moment like this. it s also worth noting that another top wagner official was also on that plane and they also have perished. the wagner group has been responsible, for i guess you could call, some of russia s most meaningful successes on the battlefield in ukraine. so, i wonder what you think the implications are for that more broadly, and more specifically, the wagner group s existence? i think that really is an important question. at least in the initial aftermath of the abortive mutiny. ukrainians were obviously looking very closely at this. the pentagon was looking very closely at this and there was no overt sign that it caused any kind of problem on the ground for russians in the fighting the ukrainians in the counteroffensive. so, that is something to watch for. it is also interesting, and certainly not a coincidence, that it was also announced