From Russia, with doubt

Instability in Moscow raises issues for India

The attempted mutiny by Russia’s largest private mercenary army, Wagner Group, headed by Yevgeny Prigozhin, a former supporter of Russian President Vladimir Putin, has raised serious doubts about the regime’s grip on power. By extension, it raises crucial questions for India too. Ever since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February last year, India has reaped the dividend of Moscow’s economic isolation from the G7 and its allies by buying larger quantities of oil at discounts of up to 30 per cent from the benchmark Brent crude index. In 2021, Russia accounted for just 3.4 per cent of India’s overseas crude