"That Prigozhin rebelled was symptomatic of many social problems, but the way he advanced toward Moscow unhindered also demonstrated nervousness about whether all army units would fight," said Alexander Baunov, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center. "Putin clearly did not want to give an order to fire he was unsure would be implemented."
ULAN-UDE, Russia — Through towering pine forests and untouched meadows, the road to Lake Baikal in southern Siberia winds past cemeteries where bright plastic flowers mark the graves of Russians killed in Ukraine. Far from the Potemkin paradise of Moscow, the war is ever visible. On the eastern shore of the lake, where white-winged gulls plunge into the steel-blue water, Yulia Rolikova, 35, runs an inn that doubles as a children’s summer camp. She is about 3,500 miles from the front, yet the war