03118cam a2200397 i 4500 2446255152 TxAuBib 20250818120000.0 240810s2025||||||||||||||||||||||||eng|u 2024035099 9781541703063 hardcover 32.00 1541703065 hardcover 32.00 CIPO000219061 TxAuBib rda Rondeaux, Candace. Putin's sledgehammer [BOOK] : the Wagner Group and Russia's collapse into mercenary chaos / Candace Rondeaux. Wagner Group and Russia's collapse into mercenary chaos. First edition. New York : PublicAffairs, 2025. 442 pages : illustrations (black and white) ; 24 cm. txt rdacontent n rdamedia nc rdacarrier Includes bibliographical references and index. Part one: Origins -- Bandit City -- The old customs house -- New Island -- Guns, gas, and oil -- Pipeline dreams -- The new look -- Part two: Hidden in plain sight -- Gerasimov's ghosts -- Slavonic corps -- Polite people -- Down, out, and up in Donbas -- The cleaners -- Part three: Expansion -- Song of the Sledgehammer -- Clash at Conoco -- Project Astrea -- Africa or bust -- Onward to Tripoli -- Mix up in Minsk -- Prelude to spring -- Part four: Out of the shadows -- Orchestral maneuvers -- Gulag no, Gulag yes -- A stab in the back -- Icarus down -- Succession. "In July 2023 the Wagner Group assembled an armed convoy that included tanks and rocket launchers and set out on what seemed like a journey to take control of Moscow. The last person to attempt such a venture was Adolf Hitler. Wagner's power began from patronage, then grew from international theft and extortion, until it was so great it exposed the weakness of Russia's conventional military and became a threat to the Russian state, one that was not demonstrably eliminated until a private jet containing Wagner's core commanders was blown up in midair. That Yevgeny Prigozhin, a local criminal thug, was able to build a private army that was on the threshold of overwhelming the world's second largest country seems incredible. In fact, it was inevitable following the hollowing out of the Russian military, the creeping use of contract groups for murky foreign missions, power struggles inside the Kremlin, and the ability of the new militias to corner and exploit the black economy.". 20250818. Prigozhin, Yevgeny, 1961-2023 Military leadership. Putin, Vladimir Vladimirovich 1952- Military leadership. Wagner Group. Russo-Ukrainian War, 2014- Russian Invasion of Ukraine, 2022. Mercenary troops Russia (Federation) History 21st century. Private military companies Russia (Federation) History 21st century. Russia (Federation) History, Military 21st century.