For a moment it seemed that an actual gangster could take on a gangster state. Yevgeny Prigozhin, a Russian criminal who had served time and spoke in prison slang, thought he could compete with the suit and tie lawyers of Russia’s criminal regime. Just two months ago he was leading his army of mercenaries in a march on Moscow, challenging the authority of the army leadership, claiming he could wage Russia’s imperial, genocidal war against Ukraine better than they could, implicitly questioning Putin’s power.