Upvoted for the hypothetical that Prigozhin is just "crazy" - in the vernacular sense of "possibly causing his own imminent death and/or imprisonment in some sequence or other," but don't overlook another possibility besides "stirring things up to encourage more street protests," perhaps one among several: Prigozhin may have read the room based on long experience, and decided if he does not make a extremely bold move, attempting to even more starkly separate himself from the robotic, failing Russian military leaders and their poorly trained, poorly led, poorly motivated troops, he will be forced into the role of their scapegoat.
Whether or not it is a correct evaluation on his part or not, perhaps that's what he concluded, and we will be able to follow this closely through Lucian's highly informed, no bullshit analysis, to see what the next turns and twists in the road serve up.
There's also the little matter of the largest nuclear plant on the entire continent under the control of the invading Russian army, allegedly being prepared for a possible, possible being the crucial term, use as a weapon against, well, that's very unclear, exactly, since a nuclear explosion of any kind, might cast its fate to the winds, killing Russians, Belarussians, of course Ukrainians, and nearby potential victims in the Baltic states, Scandinavia, who knows how horrific might be the death and destruction - anyway , see this:
Well from what I gather, Prigozhin is quite the billionaire tyrant. He has ripped women off of the streets plus killing hundreds doesn’t seem to faze him. He is to be feared as he taunts the Russian military high command. You brought up nuclear warfare and for this crazed lunatic to gain entry to those centers where they’re stored, would be catastrophic for the entiee region. In other words, I agree with you.
I'm guessing there's a third alternative here: that Prigozhin has (or thinks he has) a reasonably accurate assessment of Putin's strengths and weaknesses at this point. Is he the kind of guy who wants Russians in the street protesting? He strikes me as the kind of guy who'd happily mow down anyone in the streets who wasn't under his control; mobs tend to develop minds of their own, and I'm guessing he knows that. So my hypothesis is that those around Putin, on whom Putin's safety depends, are not as loyal as they used to be, in large part because the war on Ukraine is not going well and the economy is a mess.
It’s very hard to know what to make of these developments so far except the broad outline of Russia having to fight a rebellion of its mercenaries would seem to be good news for Ukraine. If the Wagner group heads back to Ukraine and attacks Russian regulars, then desertion by Russia’s rag-tag regulars is a certainty. Without airpower, however, Prigozhin is likely toast. What is particularly puzzling is Putin’s seeming lack of involvement. Thanks, Lucian, for trying to sort this out.
I've been listening to Richard Engel on MSNBC, reporting from Taipei about what's going on in Russia between Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin and basically declaring war on Russian minister defense Sergei Shoigu, and Russian army generals answering to him. Without mentioning Vladimir Putin by name, the accusation against Prigozhin has been that he is been orchestrating a coup d'état against the Putin regime. For those who have not been paying attention, this is the first public announcement of organized opposition to Vladimir Putin's mismanagement of his war against Ukraine; and as expected, that opposition comes from Putin's right.
For historically-minded Americans who haven't quite figured out the import of Yevgeny Prigozhin's rebellion, imagine, for a moment, if in 1862 Union General George McClellan had taken his Army of the Potomac and marched on Washington DC, under the guise of declaring that the federal War Department had been withholding ammunition and supplies from him. It is easy to conceive of a circumstance where the Lincoln administration had been driven from Washington DC to somewhere else, say for example, Cincinnati, Ohio. What chance would anyone suppose that McClellan's rebellion could have been quashed, and Union arms redirected to continue the assault on the Southern Confederacy?
Actually, that counterfactual possibility did not spring full-blown into my imagination. I recall there was an article published in Colliers Magazinein the early 1950s that posited an alternative history of the United States in which the Union forces were defeated before they could establish a stranglehold against the Confederate South by blockading Southern ports, cutting off trade and communications between Southern seaboard ports and their commercial partners, principally in Great Britain. Concomitantly, Union armies were beginning to succeed in controlling the Mississippi River from its confluence with the Missouri and Ohio Rivers to the mouth of the Mississippi at New Orleans. With McClellan's betrayal, the war in the West might never have really gotten started. At its conclusion, there would be a now-independent Southern Confederacy, a shrunken Northern Union of what had formally been the United States of America, and Russia would control Alaska to the San Juan Islands in Puget Sound, in what is now Washington State.
But back to Yevgeny Prigozhin. There is no prospect that the Wagner Group is going to carve out an independent portion of Southern Russia between Ukraine and the City of Rostov on Don that would be ruled independently of Russia. But there is some sense that ultimately, Prigozhin would need to depose Vladimir Putin if he expects to succeed in his rebellion against the Russian Defense Ministry. The logic works no other way. Yevgeny Prigozhin displays nothing in the way of statesmanlike qualities; he is a criminal thug who now finds himself in the position of being a downscale satrap (or warlord) who has now attracted the attention of the larger, much more powerful warlords. This is the man who was once touted as being Putin's chef! Skills with using a carving knife do not translate much beyond swordsmanship, and Prigozhin has not shown himself to be much of a strategic thinker. But, like Vladimir Putin, he has a nose for detecting weakness. Whatever skills he may have is a gangster and butcher of men, whether in Ukraine, or in his current base of operations in equatorial Africa, anything much beyond that requires high-level thinking allowing him to plan strategically in order to protect his flanks and his supply chain against attack from the outside. Internationally, he's put himself into unfamiliar territory where he is about to attract the serious attention of NATO in Eastern Europe, and the combined forces of France and Belgium encountering his operations in Central Africa. He claims to have something approaching 50,000 soldiers under his command over the several theaters of operation in which his minions are doing business. It would appear, however, that his skills at murdering civilians, and plundering African gold and diamond mines do not translate well when he comes up against anything resembling a professional army. He is basically a terrorist operating in out-of-the-way places of the world that the developed nations of the world want nothing to do with.
Ukraine is starting to look like the place where Prigozhin is about to get his comeuppance. He can throw as many men as he has against the Ukrainian line of defense and still come up short. As a renegade, he owes allegiance to no state; and consequently, the latter rear Putin has no reason to back Prigozhin's play by threatening nuclear retaliation. In fact, I strongly believe that Vladimir Putin would indeed welcome the opportunity to wipe out the Wagner Group on Ukrainian soil.
My sense, however, would be that the NATO allies will be more than happy to see Yevgeny Prigozhin weaken the Putin regime to the point that Russia could no longer sustain its assault on Ukraine. When your two worst enemies are at each other's throat, there's nothing more satisfying than sitting back and watching them do each other in. Inquiring minds want to know, will the Russian FSB (successor to the KGB) arrest Prigozhin and hustle him off to execution in the cellars of Lefortovo prison, or wherever they are doing that today? Or will it be Vladimir Putin who will be there as their next 'guest'? Whatever happens, this is going to be Putin's fight of his life, and in his own front yard. and we are getting a front row seat.
My bet is that this is the beginning of the end for Putin. He has already cost his fellow oligarchs how many billions in seized assets.
I think the closest parallel is the deposition of the Tsar. Economic instability from land war plus economic oppression led to end of the Romanov dynasty.
This is like a big comic farce, with all the characters moronic. Putin finances and arms Prigozhin. Prigozhin insults Putin, but continues to live. Putin has killed journalists for less. Prigozhin tells the world that he is going to attack Russian Army at Rostov on Don, eliminating all surprise.
Sorry, but until Putin kills Prigozhin, or the other way around, I refuse to take any of this seriously.
I tend to agree with Rich. After dealing with Soviet disinformation for a couple of decades, I'm still not quite on board with this whole story. It sounds great, and I hope it's all true, but I'm hesitant to fully buy into this "revolt" by Prigozhin and Putin's "tolerance" of his comments. I'd hazard a guess that U.S. & allied intelligence services know a lot about this situation but, since their sources are exceedingly sensitive, they're not saying anything about it publicly for now. Like Rich says, until Prigo is jailed or taken out, I'll continue to question just how real this is.
Russia Drops Charges Against Paramilitary Chief Who Staged Uprising
The move came after Yevgeny Prigozhin, the leader of the Wagner mercenary group, halted his forces’ march on Moscow. The Kremlin spokesman said Mr. Prigozhin would go to Belarus."
Stan, have you ever seen anything like this murderous farce? Maybe only an old Russian can make sense of it. I certainly cannot.
Frankly, this whole thing is confusing (in a very Russian way) to say the least. Lukashenko of Belarus, a puppet of Putin, talks Prigozhin into stopping his march on Moscow? Putin drops all charges of treason against Prigozhin (who ends up in Belarus)? Who could possibly know how this all came about? Sounds like the old "who's one first" joke. Methinks Putin comes out the loser in this. After all, the only reasonably effective fighting force the Russians had was the Wagner Group.
Prigozhin is a dead man walking and he knows it. Putin can and probably will order him back to Moscow, and then he'll fall out of a window in some hotel as so many Russian oligarchs have done so far, and in mysterious circumstances.
The 'rebellion' he calls for will be short-lived, because I don't know if there's anyone who really wants to go up against Putin right, who's doing his best imitation of Stalin to date.
You may be correct in his fate but then the question is who leads and finances the Wagner Group. With its head cut off will it continue to be a force Putin can and must depend upon?
Prigozhin self-finances his army with money from his African mine although he seems to be dependent on Putin for ammunition since he's constantly kvetching about the lack of it.
Obviously, a fast evolving story of critical importance not just to Ukraine but to all of Western Europe. Any resistance to Putin and his cronies in the Kremlin is good news but for this to be the beginning of real change this revolt must spread to the Russian citizens who are not in the military. I hope Western news organizations will report this story with the urgency and accuracy it requires.
OBTW. Now is the time for our government including both White House and Congress to recommit more aid, military and humanitarian to Ukraine. Keep the pressure on Putin and give encouragement to resistance groups inside Russia to support withdrawal from Ukraine ASAP. The cracks are showing. Time to put more pressure on Putin.
Amusing to see/hear all the guessing from the usual suspects, whether in the media or self-declared Ru experts as if they all have long standing, reliable sources inside the Ru mil, the Fatherland security apparatus, in the Kremlin, and inside the Wagner Group. They're the type who (a) speak only their mother's tongue (b) attend a twist and turn non-dubbed foreign film (c) and continually talk out loud as to what is about to happen. Yet by the closing credits same folk say they had it right all along.
Edit: Point being reminds me of any "breaking news: story, including the submersible. Within no time a thinly sourced narrative takes hold, teevee hosts vital signs go off the charts, viewers are bombarded with XYZ from so-called experts further validating the narrative. In the case of the submersible, it was looking for a miracle despite the much higher probability of a catastrophic event. Said another way, First Reports, man. First Reports.
As multiple readers reminded others, sometimes it's best to simply watch and enjoy as things unfold. So, pass the kettle corn.
I have been expecting the feud between Prigozhin and his Wagner Group and the Russian Defense Ministry and high command would blow up. Putin and the high command put Wagner in place and now they appear to be reaping the whirlwind. I saw reports of Russian troops and security forces being mobilized in Rostov and deeper in Russia.
If ever there was a time that we need super strong leadership in Washington, this is it. What would happen if the Wagners actually pulled off a coup and took over the country? Prigozhin is a full-on gangster, and surrounded by gangsters. What happened the last time a group of gangsters gained strategic power in the world? Goebbels, Goering, Himmler, Borman, Heydrich and Hitler, they came close to conquering the world. They didn't have H-bombs to threaten anyone. Prigozhin, criminal that he is, would have his finger on the button, presumably, and could blackmail the entire world with annihilation. "I will incinerate Berlin unless all of Poland is annexed by Mother Russia within 24 hours" A fantasy? Perhaps. But I'm wondering if the think tank in the White House has actually taken this situation seriously. Lucky for us, it's a good thing they're diverse, especially in an hour of specialized need.
It's hard for me to fathom what this clown's end game is. Not long ago, he was complaining about not getting adequate resupply from the Russian military. So now he's going rogue and taking on the Russian army with only his own band of mercenaries? And those guys are good with that? It all sounds like a kamikaze mission to me. or some similar death wish. I'm sure Ukraine is laughing up its sleeve at more Russian infighting. The whole situation is gonzo. And probably dangerous in ways we can't immediately foresee.
Which clown are you talking about? If Prigozhin -- I have little doubt that he has a more accurate assessment of the situation on the ground than you or I do, e.g., the capacity and morale of the Russian army and possible support for (or at least lack of opposition to) the mercenaries both in the countryside and in the Kremlin.
Never let oligarchs have their own army.
Others have made the point that Putin failed to internalize George Santayana's famous observation about learning from history. ;-)
You took the words right out of Putin's mouth.
Is Prigozhin just crazy in challenging Putin or is he stirring things up for Russians to take to the streets again in protest for this war?
Upvoted for the hypothetical that Prigozhin is just "crazy" - in the vernacular sense of "possibly causing his own imminent death and/or imprisonment in some sequence or other," but don't overlook another possibility besides "stirring things up to encourage more street protests," perhaps one among several: Prigozhin may have read the room based on long experience, and decided if he does not make a extremely bold move, attempting to even more starkly separate himself from the robotic, failing Russian military leaders and their poorly trained, poorly led, poorly motivated troops, he will be forced into the role of their scapegoat.
Whether or not it is a correct evaluation on his part or not, perhaps that's what he concluded, and we will be able to follow this closely through Lucian's highly informed, no bullshit analysis, to see what the next turns and twists in the road serve up.
There's also the little matter of the largest nuclear plant on the entire continent under the control of the invading Russian army, allegedly being prepared for a possible, possible being the crucial term, use as a weapon against, well, that's very unclear, exactly, since a nuclear explosion of any kind, might cast its fate to the winds, killing Russians, Belarussians, of course Ukrainians, and nearby potential victims in the Baltic states, Scandinavia, who knows how horrific might be the death and destruction - anyway , see this:
mailchi.mp/6c2567280749/war-notes-from-illia-ponomarenko-17342062?e=4ecb3ab639
Well from what I gather, Prigozhin is quite the billionaire tyrant. He has ripped women off of the streets plus killing hundreds doesn’t seem to faze him. He is to be feared as he taunts the Russian military high command. You brought up nuclear warfare and for this crazed lunatic to gain entry to those centers where they’re stored, would be catastrophic for the entiee region. In other words, I agree with you.
I doubt he is chest beating like this without belief that he has some sort of backing. From which individuals or cliques, I wonder.
I'm guessing there's a third alternative here: that Prigozhin has (or thinks he has) a reasonably accurate assessment of Putin's strengths and weaknesses at this point. Is he the kind of guy who wants Russians in the street protesting? He strikes me as the kind of guy who'd happily mow down anyone in the streets who wasn't under his control; mobs tend to develop minds of their own, and I'm guessing he knows that. So my hypothesis is that those around Putin, on whom Putin's safety depends, are not as loyal as they used to be, in large part because the war on Ukraine is not going well and the economy is a mess.
That’s a thought, yes.
Driving home from work this afternoon, I thought to myself ‘Wonder when he will give us an update on Ukraine.’
Thank you!
It’s very hard to know what to make of these developments so far except the broad outline of Russia having to fight a rebellion of its mercenaries would seem to be good news for Ukraine. If the Wagner group heads back to Ukraine and attacks Russian regulars, then desertion by Russia’s rag-tag regulars is a certainty. Without airpower, however, Prigozhin is likely toast. What is particularly puzzling is Putin’s seeming lack of involvement. Thanks, Lucian, for trying to sort this out.
I've been listening to Richard Engel on MSNBC, reporting from Taipei about what's going on in Russia between Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin and basically declaring war on Russian minister defense Sergei Shoigu, and Russian army generals answering to him. Without mentioning Vladimir Putin by name, the accusation against Prigozhin has been that he is been orchestrating a coup d'état against the Putin regime. For those who have not been paying attention, this is the first public announcement of organized opposition to Vladimir Putin's mismanagement of his war against Ukraine; and as expected, that opposition comes from Putin's right.
For historically-minded Americans who haven't quite figured out the import of Yevgeny Prigozhin's rebellion, imagine, for a moment, if in 1862 Union General George McClellan had taken his Army of the Potomac and marched on Washington DC, under the guise of declaring that the federal War Department had been withholding ammunition and supplies from him. It is easy to conceive of a circumstance where the Lincoln administration had been driven from Washington DC to somewhere else, say for example, Cincinnati, Ohio. What chance would anyone suppose that McClellan's rebellion could have been quashed, and Union arms redirected to continue the assault on the Southern Confederacy?
Actually, that counterfactual possibility did not spring full-blown into my imagination. I recall there was an article published in Colliers Magazinein the early 1950s that posited an alternative history of the United States in which the Union forces were defeated before they could establish a stranglehold against the Confederate South by blockading Southern ports, cutting off trade and communications between Southern seaboard ports and their commercial partners, principally in Great Britain. Concomitantly, Union armies were beginning to succeed in controlling the Mississippi River from its confluence with the Missouri and Ohio Rivers to the mouth of the Mississippi at New Orleans. With McClellan's betrayal, the war in the West might never have really gotten started. At its conclusion, there would be a now-independent Southern Confederacy, a shrunken Northern Union of what had formally been the United States of America, and Russia would control Alaska to the San Juan Islands in Puget Sound, in what is now Washington State.
But back to Yevgeny Prigozhin. There is no prospect that the Wagner Group is going to carve out an independent portion of Southern Russia between Ukraine and the City of Rostov on Don that would be ruled independently of Russia. But there is some sense that ultimately, Prigozhin would need to depose Vladimir Putin if he expects to succeed in his rebellion against the Russian Defense Ministry. The logic works no other way. Yevgeny Prigozhin displays nothing in the way of statesmanlike qualities; he is a criminal thug who now finds himself in the position of being a downscale satrap (or warlord) who has now attracted the attention of the larger, much more powerful warlords. This is the man who was once touted as being Putin's chef! Skills with using a carving knife do not translate much beyond swordsmanship, and Prigozhin has not shown himself to be much of a strategic thinker. But, like Vladimir Putin, he has a nose for detecting weakness. Whatever skills he may have is a gangster and butcher of men, whether in Ukraine, or in his current base of operations in equatorial Africa, anything much beyond that requires high-level thinking allowing him to plan strategically in order to protect his flanks and his supply chain against attack from the outside. Internationally, he's put himself into unfamiliar territory where he is about to attract the serious attention of NATO in Eastern Europe, and the combined forces of France and Belgium encountering his operations in Central Africa. He claims to have something approaching 50,000 soldiers under his command over the several theaters of operation in which his minions are doing business. It would appear, however, that his skills at murdering civilians, and plundering African gold and diamond mines do not translate well when he comes up against anything resembling a professional army. He is basically a terrorist operating in out-of-the-way places of the world that the developed nations of the world want nothing to do with.
Ukraine is starting to look like the place where Prigozhin is about to get his comeuppance. He can throw as many men as he has against the Ukrainian line of defense and still come up short. As a renegade, he owes allegiance to no state; and consequently, the latter rear Putin has no reason to back Prigozhin's play by threatening nuclear retaliation. In fact, I strongly believe that Vladimir Putin would indeed welcome the opportunity to wipe out the Wagner Group on Ukrainian soil.
My sense, however, would be that the NATO allies will be more than happy to see Yevgeny Prigozhin weaken the Putin regime to the point that Russia could no longer sustain its assault on Ukraine. When your two worst enemies are at each other's throat, there's nothing more satisfying than sitting back and watching them do each other in. Inquiring minds want to know, will the Russian FSB (successor to the KGB) arrest Prigozhin and hustle him off to execution in the cellars of Lefortovo prison, or wherever they are doing that today? Or will it be Vladimir Putin who will be there as their next 'guest'? Whatever happens, this is going to be Putin's fight of his life, and in his own front yard. and we are getting a front row seat.
I like your thinking process! I do hope these oligarchs eat each other.
My bet is that this is the beginning of the end for Putin. He has already cost his fellow oligarchs how many billions in seized assets.
I think the closest parallel is the deposition of the Tsar. Economic instability from land war plus economic oppression led to end of the Romanov dynasty.
Yep. Quite a few dynasties fell during and in the aftermath of WWI, e.g., the "Sick Man of Europe" (the Ottoman Empire) finally died.
Thanks for the hypothetical "what if" about McClellan.
Though it could blow up so high and fast no one is safe, why not enjoy the view while we can.
This is like a big comic farce, with all the characters moronic. Putin finances and arms Prigozhin. Prigozhin insults Putin, but continues to live. Putin has killed journalists for less. Prigozhin tells the world that he is going to attack Russian Army at Rostov on Don, eliminating all surprise.
Sorry, but until Putin kills Prigozhin, or the other way around, I refuse to take any of this seriously.
Agree, they're all drama kweens. Pass the popcorn.
Yep!
I tend to agree with Rich. After dealing with Soviet disinformation for a couple of decades, I'm still not quite on board with this whole story. It sounds great, and I hope it's all true, but I'm hesitant to fully buy into this "revolt" by Prigozhin and Putin's "tolerance" of his comments. I'd hazard a guess that U.S. & allied intelligence services know a lot about this situation but, since their sources are exceedingly sensitive, they're not saying anything about it publicly for now. Like Rich says, until Prigo is jailed or taken out, I'll continue to question just how real this is.
This just in from NYT: 'LIVE
Updated
June 24, 2023, 5:57 p.m. ET2 minutes ago
2 minutes ago
Russia Drops Charges Against Paramilitary Chief Who Staged Uprising
The move came after Yevgeny Prigozhin, the leader of the Wagner mercenary group, halted his forces’ march on Moscow. The Kremlin spokesman said Mr. Prigozhin would go to Belarus."
Stan, have you ever seen anything like this murderous farce? Maybe only an old Russian can make sense of it. I certainly cannot.
Frankly, this whole thing is confusing (in a very Russian way) to say the least. Lukashenko of Belarus, a puppet of Putin, talks Prigozhin into stopping his march on Moscow? Putin drops all charges of treason against Prigozhin (who ends up in Belarus)? Who could possibly know how this all came about? Sounds like the old "who's one first" joke. Methinks Putin comes out the loser in this. After all, the only reasonably effective fighting force the Russians had was the Wagner Group.
May you live in interesting times…hoo boy!
I' m pretty sure the Chinese were funning with us when they said that ...
This is interesting...keeping my eyes on it...wonder about the impact on Ukraine, etc.
Prigozhin is a dead man walking and he knows it. Putin can and probably will order him back to Moscow, and then he'll fall out of a window in some hotel as so many Russian oligarchs have done so far, and in mysterious circumstances.
The 'rebellion' he calls for will be short-lived, because I don't know if there's anyone who really wants to go up against Putin right, who's doing his best imitation of Stalin to date.
Dictators often appear untouchable, invulnerable - until they're not.
You may be correct in his fate but then the question is who leads and finances the Wagner Group. With its head cut off will it continue to be a force Putin can and must depend upon?
Prigozhin self-finances his army with money from his African mine although he seems to be dependent on Putin for ammunition since he's constantly kvetching about the lack of it.
He's smart enough not to return to Moscow. He knows what awaits him there.
Obviously, a fast evolving story of critical importance not just to Ukraine but to all of Western Europe. Any resistance to Putin and his cronies in the Kremlin is good news but for this to be the beginning of real change this revolt must spread to the Russian citizens who are not in the military. I hope Western news organizations will report this story with the urgency and accuracy it requires.
OBTW. Now is the time for our government including both White House and Congress to recommit more aid, military and humanitarian to Ukraine. Keep the pressure on Putin and give encouragement to resistance groups inside Russia to support withdrawal from Ukraine ASAP. The cracks are showing. Time to put more pressure on Putin.
The following doesn't apply to Lucian's readers:
Amusing to see/hear all the guessing from the usual suspects, whether in the media or self-declared Ru experts as if they all have long standing, reliable sources inside the Ru mil, the Fatherland security apparatus, in the Kremlin, and inside the Wagner Group. They're the type who (a) speak only their mother's tongue (b) attend a twist and turn non-dubbed foreign film (c) and continually talk out loud as to what is about to happen. Yet by the closing credits same folk say they had it right all along.
Edit: Point being reminds me of any "breaking news: story, including the submersible. Within no time a thinly sourced narrative takes hold, teevee hosts vital signs go off the charts, viewers are bombarded with XYZ from so-called experts further validating the narrative. In the case of the submersible, it was looking for a miracle despite the much higher probability of a catastrophic event. Said another way, First Reports, man. First Reports.
As multiple readers reminded others, sometimes it's best to simply watch and enjoy as things unfold. So, pass the kettle corn.
I have been expecting the feud between Prigozhin and his Wagner Group and the Russian Defense Ministry and high command would blow up. Putin and the high command put Wagner in place and now they appear to be reaping the whirlwind. I saw reports of Russian troops and security forces being mobilized in Rostov and deeper in Russia.
If ever there was a time that we need super strong leadership in Washington, this is it. What would happen if the Wagners actually pulled off a coup and took over the country? Prigozhin is a full-on gangster, and surrounded by gangsters. What happened the last time a group of gangsters gained strategic power in the world? Goebbels, Goering, Himmler, Borman, Heydrich and Hitler, they came close to conquering the world. They didn't have H-bombs to threaten anyone. Prigozhin, criminal that he is, would have his finger on the button, presumably, and could blackmail the entire world with annihilation. "I will incinerate Berlin unless all of Poland is annexed by Mother Russia within 24 hours" A fantasy? Perhaps. But I'm wondering if the think tank in the White House has actually taken this situation seriously. Lucky for us, it's a good thing they're diverse, especially in an hour of specialized need.
New reports are that Prigozhin's forces have been unopposed in Rostov-on-Don. Perhaps Putin has finally lost the support of the Russian army?
It's hard for me to fathom what this clown's end game is. Not long ago, he was complaining about not getting adequate resupply from the Russian military. So now he's going rogue and taking on the Russian army with only his own band of mercenaries? And those guys are good with that? It all sounds like a kamikaze mission to me. or some similar death wish. I'm sure Ukraine is laughing up its sleeve at more Russian infighting. The whole situation is gonzo. And probably dangerous in ways we can't immediately foresee.
Which clown are you talking about? If Prigozhin -- I have little doubt that he has a more accurate assessment of the situation on the ground than you or I do, e.g., the capacity and morale of the Russian army and possible support for (or at least lack of opposition to) the mercenaries both in the countryside and in the Kremlin.