Russia is literally crawling with informants. It seems like we know more about what is going on than Putin.
It must be the perfect target for finding sources. No one has any allegiance and everyone has their hand out looking to take money.
What an odd take given what we just witnessed. I suppose this is where I tell you I’m not sure what to tell you.
He has a history of putting down insurrections with as much blood as possible. Bloody messes is kind of his thing.
We’ll have to agree to disagree here.
Can’t edit but wanted to add I actually think what happened (a mercenary army taking his military hub and being treated as heroes by the local citizenry) is 100x worse than his army annihilating the mercenaries the second they turned towards Russia.
I have. I don’t believe they were given orders to stand down. They wouldn’t have setup military check points armed with troops and heavy tanks and they certainly wouldn’t have ordered jets and choppers to bomb their caravan.
I read an article earlier that quoted a Russian army dude that basically said “no one wanted to put up a resistance and die for what is ultimately a power play between billionaires.”
I don’t agree with her belief that Putin “can manage with his own forces”.
How so? They’ve proven completely incompetent in Ukraine, but even more so in Russia. They did nothing as an invading force marched through Russia.
How does he manage a force that has proven unable to win a war abroad and unwilling to protect him at home?
I think #5 above is most striking. Faced with an invading army of mercenaries, Putin’s army did absolutely nothing.
In other words, Putin doesn’t have an army at this point. But he’s fighting a war on foreign soil.
I don’t know what happens next, but I feel like whatever happens is going to happen quickly.
I can’t even imagine what’s happening behind the scenes in western intelligence briefings.
It seems to me that Putin has to kill Prigo. The dude just pantsed Putin in front of the world.
If he doesn’t kill him really quickly it would seem to be a sign that Putin has no power anymore.
It’s pretty wild seeing the entire internet/world try to make sense of what just happened and predict what’s going to happen.
Everybody is just scratching their heads right now.
One other thought I had about Prigozhin turning around.
I wonder if he understands he’s already delivered the fatal blow and now he just waits for Putin to bleed out.
If he can survive in Belarus for long enough, I’d think he has as much chance of taking over Russia as the next thug once Putin is gone.
Think about the implications of that for Putin. His army DID NOTHING while 20K mercenaries marched into and through Russia.
I don’t think anyone has much confidence on how this plays out moving forward.
Super, super volatile situation.
Hopefully I don’t get in trouble for mentioning that it’s going to be interesting to see China’s response to these most recent developments.
@blacklab feel free to move that comment to the spy balloon thread if it’s more appropriate there.
His troops just shot down several of Putin’s helicopters/fighter jets on their way to Moscow.
Putin: ”Hey about that. We’re cool, right? Any chance you can head back and fight that war you said was unjust?”
What are his options? He held a national televised speech saying the traitors will pay dearly.
Then 12 hours later he agrees to the demands of those traitors (who waltzed through his territory unopposed)?
Again, Putin’s tenuous grasp on power exists purely based on his perceived strength.
It’s clear he is weak and powerless. The jackals that surround him know this.
It’s about to turn into a real shitshow.