The belief that Vladimir Putin has the domestic situation under control proved to be an illusion this weekend. The situation is unclear, but one thing the West can do now.
The biggest misconception about the insane coup attempt by a Russian private army is that it vanished into thin air. The armed march on Moscow will have such a long and drastic impact that, alongside the attack on neighboring Ukraine, it will go down in Russian history as one of the defining events of the era of the tyrant Vladimir Putin. As impossible as it is to assess the consequences right now, it is clear that the prerequisites for Western and German policy on Russia have changed completely.