The real intrigue in the public feud between Prigozhin and Beglov is why a notorious wartime figure portrayed as one of the most dangerous and powerful people in Russia cannot even resolve some trivial day-to-day issues in his hometown.

The near-identical results of gubernatorial runners-up Mikhail Amosov and Nadezhda Tikhonova show once again that people were following the tactic of voting for anyone except acting governor Alexander Beglov, and that left with two other options, voters simply tossed a coin. For the first time in the city’s history, we have seen clearly expressed protest voting.