A military coup threatened to overthrow the Russian government this weekend. The brutal Wagner private military company claimed they were betrayed by their leaders, and began a march toward Moscow. They were winning support among the local population, they were shooting down Russian helicopters, and they said other units in the Russian military joined with them in what looked like a brewing civil war.
Then, about 24 hours later, the whole thing came to a sudden end. Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin struck a deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin. He was pardoned for his crimes, he and others who joined the rebellion agreed to go to Belarus—where Russia is deploying tactical nuclear weapons—and the remainders of the Wagner group who didn’t join the uprising are being integrated into the normal Russian military….