Last week, the world learned the shocking news that Yevgeny Prigozhin, the notorious head of Wagner private military company, died in a plane crash north of Moscow. Prigozhin’s demise came exactly two months after he launched a mutiny against Russian military leadership, which may be called the most significant and direct threat to Vladimir Putin’s regime since he came to power two decades ago. Now, it is far from certain whether Wagner can replicate its previous success without Prigozhin at the helm, and if not, whether other groups can effectively fill the vacuum. To discuss the post-Prigozhin future, Kim Marten and Vanda Felbab-Brown join Andrea Kendall-Taylor and Jim Townsend on the latest episode of Brussels Sprouts.

Kimberly Marten is a professor of political science at Barnard College, Columbia University. Her current research focuses on Russian foreign and security policies, NATO enlargement, and the global politics of climate change.

Vanda Felbab-Brown is a senior fellow in the Foreign Policy program at the Brookings Institution. She is an expert on international and internal conflicts and nontraditional security threats, including insurgency, organized crime, urban violence, and illicit economies