That was my first thought when I heard the news, the three innocent crew members effectively sentenced to death because they were needed to make sure Prigozhin was killed.
But it is worth remembering that this is all in line with the way Russian governments have behaved since the times of the Tzars, with utter disregard for the lives of their citizens, when matters of state get in the way.
Stalin subdued Ukraine by starving them to death, had regular clearouts of those working round him, condeming them and their families to death, our imprisonment in the gulags.
Putin is following in this grand tradition.