It’s been a chaotic 48 hours in Russia that put the world’s most notorious leader, Vladimir Putin, in the crosshairs. Putin is no stranger to the headlines, but this story was different.

The boss of the notorious Wagner Group, shocked the world by turning his band of ruthless mercenaries on the Kremlin and threatening to march on Moscow. It was a shocking display of belligerence from a man who’d long been an ally of Putin. Now the man who’s pulled Russia’s strings for decades faced, as he described, an act of “treason” from one of his own puppets.

The chaotic events unfolded quickly and posed serious questions about Putin’s grip on power, the future of the war in Ukraine, and how a hotdog-selling warlord could turn Putin’s “secret army” against him. Today, Sherryn Groch on the man who challenged Putin, and Peter Hartcher on what it means for the Russian leader’s future.

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