The armed rebellion of the Wagner mercenaries showed the apparent fragility of Vladimir Putin’s regime. With the road open to Moscow, armed mercenaries led by “Putin’s Chef”, including contingents recruited from the Russian prison system, crossed the border into Russia from occupied Ukrainian territories and took control of the city of Rostov, a major logistical hub and military from southern Russia. The Wagner mercenaries then took the M4 highway leading to Moscow without encountering much resistance. The lack of combativeness of the regular military forces has opened a veritable Pandora’s Box, from the loyalty of the Russian command corps to the Kremlin to the intense infighting between the political-oligarchic groups that control the vast system of intelligence and security services in the Russian Federation. The Wagner Group has recruited extensively from among convicts in Russia’s penal system, and the company’s top leaders include disgraced former members of the Russian military.