John Lechner

And so as Ukrainians are taking over government buildings to overthrow the government of Yanukovych, anti-Maidan protesters are taking over these buildings in Donbas, in Donetsk, and in Luhansk. And this puts Putin and the Kremlin into a difficult situation because unlike Crimea, they didn't want to annex eastern Ukraine, Donbas. It's not that important to Russia.

And so as Ukrainians are taking over government buildings to overthrow the government of Yanukovych, anti-Maidan protesters are taking over these buildings in Donbas, in Donetsk, and in Luhansk. And this puts Putin and the Kremlin into a difficult situation because unlike Crimea, they didn't want to annex eastern Ukraine, Donbas. It's not that important to Russia.

But Putin is kind of boosting his nationalist credentials by annexing Crimea. It gives a big kind of rally around the flag effect. And crucially, this is a rally around the flag from people who, these nationalists, these Russian nationalists and militant guys who were against Putin's rule in 2012 and were marching against him.

But Putin is kind of boosting his nationalist credentials by annexing Crimea. It gives a big kind of rally around the flag effect. And crucially, this is a rally around the flag from people who, these nationalists, these Russian nationalists and militant guys who were against Putin's rule in 2012 and were marching against him.

But Putin is kind of boosting his nationalist credentials by annexing Crimea. It gives a big kind of rally around the flag effect. And crucially, this is a rally around the flag from people who, these nationalists, these Russian nationalists and militant guys who were against Putin's rule in 2012 and were marching against him.

And so he can't be seen as letting these separatists in eastern Ukraine hang out to dry. But he doesn't want to risk further sanctions from the West, international isolation. And so the Kremlin has to think very quickly, like, how do we support but not support these separatists in eastern Ukraine?

And so he can't be seen as letting these separatists in eastern Ukraine hang out to dry. But he doesn't want to risk further sanctions from the West, international isolation. And so the Kremlin has to think very quickly, like, how do we support but not support these separatists in eastern Ukraine?

And so he can't be seen as letting these separatists in eastern Ukraine hang out to dry. But he doesn't want to risk further sanctions from the West, international isolation. And so the Kremlin has to think very quickly, like, how do we support but not support these separatists in eastern Ukraine?

And this is where Yevgeny Prigozhin, the guy who's providing the meals for the Russian military, becomes acquainted with another guy, Dmitry Utkin, who is a former GRU officer, Russian military intelligence. He fought in Chechnya. He was stationed near Estonia. And he had just come back

And this is where Yevgeny Prigozhin, the guy who's providing the meals for the Russian military, becomes acquainted with another guy, Dmitry Utkin, who is a former GRU officer, Russian military intelligence. He fought in Chechnya. He was stationed near Estonia. And he had just come back

And this is where Yevgeny Prigozhin, the guy who's providing the meals for the Russian military, becomes acquainted with another guy, Dmitry Utkin, who is a former GRU officer, Russian military intelligence. He fought in Chechnya. He was stationed near Estonia. And he had just come back

and almost got in big trouble for this kind of misadventure with a Russian PMC in Syria, these two guys come together and they sign an agreement whereby Utkin will provide the tactical knowledge, provide the men as contractors, and Prigozhin will provide

and almost got in big trouble for this kind of misadventure with a Russian PMC in Syria, these two guys come together and they sign an agreement whereby Utkin will provide the tactical knowledge, provide the men as contractors, and Prigozhin will provide

and almost got in big trouble for this kind of misadventure with a Russian PMC in Syria, these two guys come together and they sign an agreement whereby Utkin will provide the tactical knowledge, provide the men as contractors, and Prigozhin will provide

the political backing and the financial support for this mercenary group that is very closely, if not basically, as Murat was saying, a Ministry of Defense project that they send into eastern Ukraine right across the border to support the separatists.

the political backing and the financial support for this mercenary group that is very closely, if not basically, as Murat was saying, a Ministry of Defense project that they send into eastern Ukraine right across the border to support the separatists.

the political backing and the financial support for this mercenary group that is very closely, if not basically, as Murat was saying, a Ministry of Defense project that they send into eastern Ukraine right across the border to support the separatists.

How did they recruit their fighters? So as Murat was saying, I mean, it's word of mouth, basically. And I think Murat will tell you later as well. The initial group of Wagner, which came out of this PMC that had the year before gone to Syria. So before Wagner, there were a number of kind of what we would think of as Western-style PMCs that had popped up.

How did they recruit their fighters? So as Murat was saying, I mean, it's word of mouth, basically. And I think Murat will tell you later as well. The initial group of Wagner, which came out of this PMC that had the year before gone to Syria. So before Wagner, there were a number of kind of what we would think of as Western-style PMCs that had popped up.

How did they recruit their fighters? So as Murat was saying, I mean, it's word of mouth, basically. And I think Murat will tell you later as well. The initial group of Wagner, which came out of this PMC that had the year before gone to Syria. So before Wagner, there were a number of kind of what we would think of as Western-style PMCs that had popped up.