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If you can get within 120 kilometers of the Kremlin while tripping balls, then the problem is not the drugs.

He was not acting alone. His private army is a bit similar to the blackwater group, both armies got somewhere around 20000-30000 soldiers.

I don't know about drugs. Ego, messiah complex, and delusions of invincibility? Sure.

Putin got where he was through reality-TV-level ostentatious displays of strength. Prigozhin likely figured he was the only one who could boast measurable gains in the war, and the same tactics would work for him.

My guess is his miscalculation was assuming he was more popular among the rank-and-file Russian military and police than he is, and it's too early to tell if that's actually a miscalculation.

1. this is an emerging situation, and he probably knew more than we do.

2. His aims/agenda probably doesn't match ours.