Andrei Krasno is a correspondent for RFE/RL's North Caucasus Service.
The chest-thumping founder of Russia’s notorious Wagner mercenary group flexed his political muscle to get a local mayor to back down and allow the burials of Wagner soldiers. But Yevgeny Prigozhin’s influence may already be on the wane.
As casualties rise in eastern Ukraine, more and more families are not being informed about the deaths of their relatives fighting for the Wagner mercenary group there.
Opposition politician Aleksei Navalny has set himself the goal of blanketing Russia with a network of regional offices. But efforts to open offices in the North Caucasus have met with strong resistance from both from the local authorities and the people who live in the region.
