Ring Cycle

Brett Lethbridge plays on the title of Wagner’s epic opera The Ring Cycle. Going around in circles is the pro-Russian private army, known as the Wagner Group, led by Russian oligarch Yevgeny Prigozhin. Angered by perceived mishandling of the Russia–Ukraine War, Prigozhin marched on Moscow in a mid-June 2023 rebellion. Before reaching the capital city, he called the rebellion off and sent his mercenaries to Belarus instead.