Mr. Prigozhin, riding a wave of popularity, became increasingly personal and insulting in his denunciations of Mr. Shoigu. Yet Mr. Putin failed to mediate. Sources close to him tell me he hasn’t met with Mr. Prigozhin for months. The situation for Mr. Putin is equally serious. Until now, such figures — hard-liners operating largely on the Telegram social messaging app, who generally support Mr. Prigozhin — could criticize the authorities with some impunity.

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Persons: Prigozhin, Shoigu, Putin, Wagner, — Mr, hasn’t, Prigozhin couldn’t, Mr, Alexander Lukashenko of, Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus —, Putin’s, Prigozhin —, Sergei Surovikin Organizations: Kremlin, Central African Locations: Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus, Belarus, Central African Republic, Ukraine