So what is going on in Russia? I don't know any better than anyone else. All I do know is, Yevgeniy Prigozhin, the head of Wagner group and the Internet Research Agency (which spread disinfo during the US 2016 election), has served something very unpalatable to Mr. Putin.
President Vladimir Putin vowed Saturday to punish the organizers of an armed rebellion in Russia after mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin led his troops out of Ukraine and into a key southern city.
Putin denounced the uprising as “a stab in the back.” It was the biggest threat to his leadership in over two decades in power.
The private army led by Prigozhin appeared to control the military headquarters in Rostov-on-Don, a city 660 miles (over 1,000 kilometers) south of Moscow that runs Russian offensive operations in Ukraine, Britain’s Ministry of Defense said.
As the fast-moving events unfolded in Russia, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Moscow is suffering “full-scale weakness” and that Kyiv was protecting Europe from “the spread of Russian evil and chaos.”
A "stab in the back!" How terrible for Mr. Putin. It looks like he might be facing an insurrection of some kind. Although, as Kazakhstan's President Tokayev has said, that's Russia's internal affair. I'm sure Putin's good friend Mr. Lukashenko has some comments, but they may be being made from Turkiye. It is also possible that Dmitry Medvedev is making an extended liquor store run.
I can only admit that I am observing this menu very carefully, but not as carefully as Putin is--after all.
He's the one eating from it.
UPDATE: That was either over way too quickly or it's not hardly over at all and that is...very weird. Literally no further comment.
3 comments:
I'm not a blood thirsty guy, but I did serve in the Marines. One thing I know is when the leader of a country like Russian leader Pootin loses the confidence of the population his downfall is sure to follow in a hurry. I'm just hoping that he won't nuke the rest of the world to stay in power....
I think (hope) he isn't so nuts. But the story of how Putin orchestrated his own trouble here is interesting to me. He kept control of his military people but didn't know they were hollowing out the military infrastructure. He gives a lot of leeway to his "chef". Prigozhin spends the last several months crying about the need for ammo and the corruption of the RU military leadership, finally spilling the tea that the Russian mission in Ukraine is pillaging (in Russia, better to spill the tea than drink it!). I think Prigozhin had this planned for some time--not to give him any admiration.
It sounds like Putin may have also taken flight like Medvedev (some days, the knives are still longer than the tables). But Putin has one hope--the Chechens are on their way to fight Wagner group. (Putin may be a master strategist yet! *heh!*)
I think you are right--his reputation as a strong guy in charge is very damaged and he is unlikely to recover from so many mistakes.
Starting to look like it won't take too much to waltz right into Moscow and take over ...
Post a Comment