Putin Is Caught in His Own Trap
After spending years cultivating public apathy, the Russian president found his people indifferent to his fate.
by Anne Applebaum
Jun 25, 2023
3 minutes
![Just another weekend in Rostov-on-Don](https://article-imgs.scribdassets.com/s8vxqku68b8wa04/images/fileT0J5KDG0.jpg)
The Wagner Group mercenaries marched 800 kilometers across Russia, shot down planes and helicopters, took over a regional military command, provoked a panic in Moscow—troops dug trenches; the mayor told everyone to stay home—and then stood down. Yet in a way, the strangest aspect of Saturday’s aborted coup was the reaction of the people of Rostov-on-Don, including the city’s military leaders, to the soldiers who arrived and declared themselves to be their new rulers.
The Wagner mercenaries showed up in the, published by , shows them walking at a leisurely pace across a street, one of their tanks in the background, holding yellow coffee cups.
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