Vladimir Putin made an extraordinary address to the nation on Saturday morning admitting that he was facing an armed insurrection led by former confidante Yevgeny Prigozhin and his Wagner mercenaries. After months of feuding between the mercenary boss and Russia's Defense Ministry, things came to a head Friday when Prigozhin accused the Russian military of ordering a rocket strike on a camp full of his men, and vowed merciless revenge. Within hours, the Prosecutor General's Office announced charges against Prigozhin for attempting to incite an armed rebellion, a crime that carries a maximum penalty of 20 years behind bars. Prigozhin showed no sign of backing down, instead releasing a series of audio messages via his press service late Friday in which he accused the Defense Ministry of deploying fighter jets to shoot at Wagner vehicles in the Rostov region and of firing at civilians on Russian territory. While the drama between Moscow and Prigozhin played out, Ukrainian officials announced Friday their forces had retaken eight villages from Russian control as part of their first counteroffensive.
We all know how this is gonna end. Prigozhin marches his 25,000 troops into Moscow, faces stiff resistance and is either killed in combat or captured.
Putin then goes full Vlad the Impaler and parades his corpse skewered on a pike for all of Russia to see, as a stark reminder of what happens to rebels.
This is a substantial setback for the Russian war effort, but I really cannot see Prigozhin overthrowing Putin. Best thing he could have done was defect to the West instead of try to depose the figurehead.
Ultimately, it doesn't matter who wins or loses this battle. Either way, Ukraine wins.
Wagner was the only Russian force I regularly saw succeeding in the headlines. Without them bolstering the Russian military and in fact detracting from and wasting the resources of the Russian military, the whole house of cards is going to start falling.
Yea I'm not too in the loop on this topic, but following, and I'd like to think I understand people, especially bad people, and if anything this just acts as a destabilizer for putins power consolidation, and that is good for Ukraine regardless whether both parties are pos, which they are.
After seeing how much of a coward Putin is I have a hard time seeing him be anything more than an opportunist who takes easy cheap shots. He is out if his league now.
The Pentagon is located in Arlington, it's a meme that when some hot shit happens and they have to do overtime they will order a lot of pizza from nearby stores.
Update: Wagner is claiming control of a Military HQ and an airfield in Rostov, Russia. Demanding an audience with the top 2 Russian military heads. He demands that the two leaders BE BROUGHT TO HIM or he will continue to hold the HQ.... It may be a while before we get another update.
Ok, I have a huge and unlikely bingo card: what if Lukashenko is now allied with Prigozhin and is using that to take control of Russia and finally complete his dream of ruling the USSR again?
Let’s release a bunch of people we imprisoned and then send them to……. a mercenary group? I’m sure they’ll be veeeery loyal.
If they’re able to pick up Russian soldiers as they go things could steam roll quickly. Otherwise it will at least be a massive distraction for Russia while Ukraine recovers territory.
I don‘t think this guy in charge of Russia or their army would be any good either, but I hope he could at least make some more Russians question the current course.
I would say high. It appears Progozian is saying this is all Shoigu's fault and Putin needs to replace him with Progozian. I imagine they'll use this as an excuse to retreat from Ukraine and sacrifice Shoigu as the reason for the invasion.
Honestly, if this gives the Ukrainian's their land back and peace I'm all for it. I care less about the evil of the world getting their cumuppance rather than the innocent getting to live happily.
I mean, a state actor making an offensive move on Russia is a very different thing than a mercenary group doing the same. I’m not sure that “afraid” is the word I would use here.