The infamous Wagner Group, founded by Russian oligarch Jevgenij Prigosjin, seems to have fallen out of grace with Vladimir Putin. Their recruitment of convicts to be used indiscriminately as cannon fodder has been halted, and convicts are now instread recruited into the ranks of the regular Russian army. This might not make much of a difference to the convicts, as they are most likely still going to be sacrificed by the thousands on the battlefield, in a cynical attempt to deplete the Ukrainian ammunition supplies in exchange for Russian lives. However, this will make a difference on the battlefield, to the disadvantage of Russia. For all their evil, the Wagner group has a significantly better track record in the war, because they have a functioning command structure and at least some soldiers who are well trained and reasonably motivated. The regular Russian army is in complete disarray, with incompetent leadership, badly trained, badly equipped and unmotivated personnel, and a long history of rampant corruption.
Russia is losing its grip on Ukraine, and Putin is losing his grip on Russia. It's happening slowly, and far too many more lives will be lost before this war is over, but it's happening, and the reckoning will be harsh. Putin might go down in history not as the leader who made Russia great again, but the leader who acted on his own delusional fantasies and fractured what was still left of the former Soviet federation. He is on a path to basically erase Russia from the map.
