I think it might also be possible, that everyone who knew anything about how the war was really going, thought it was fucking stupid. But that order to stop had to come from the top, and so, there was a fragile hirearchy following orders. But the further down you go, the less agreement with them.
And now, Wagner has rocked the house of cards. And all those who were wishing for it all to just fucking end are seeing an opportunity to not stay aboard the sinking ship they're pretending was seaworthy.
I think the more support you have, the more likely others will support you. So you want everyone to know about your supporters. I'm sure there's a number of people who've wanted to overthrow Putin for a looooong time and were just waiting for something that actually stood a chance of success.
I think Prigozhin is aiming for a position where he will need the support of a lot of people in order to get what he wants, even if succeeds with his objective. He is rallying support outside of Wagner, in order to gain legitimacy or acceptance for his end goal, whatever that may be.
Most underrated comment. Prigozhin is a straight up evil mother fucker: from being a war criminal and running the troll farm that helped get Trump elected, he's no dummy. I am torn about cheering for him. If he takes the Presidency of Russia, the situation may not be any better.
Well, he would not be burdened with Putin's legacy in Ukraine and could easily walk away from it as a bad investment. He's certainly not a better man, but Putin is not able to end this war without losing power (and his life). Prigizhin can.
Russians know more than most people that what you say in public makes a difference, hence why they're so good at misinformation.
If you can get some of the public behind you when making a coup, then later that may be useful, though this likely works only if you have some public support initially.