https://www.politico.com/news/2023/06/24/u-s-officials-russian-warlords-rebellion-could-be-just-what-ukraine-needs-00103540
Biden administration officials also expressed concerns about what the mercenary group's actions mean for Vladimir Putin's hold on power.
Prigozhin's ability to successfully execute a coup may have been tenuous, but this will send a message to others that it is possible... Afterall, they did take Rostov-on-Don and got within 200km of Moscow... This will embolden others.
Serious question: what others? How many other Russians have a devoted private army to do their bidding? Are there any others?
If not, I think another coup attempt would need to come from the inside. Specifically, I think someone would need to commandeer the existing Russian army.
How many other Russians have a devoted private army to do their bidding? Are there any others?
Several, in fact. This article has the count at 37. Gazprom (yes the energy company) has one, shit, even Shoigu has his own PMC called Patriot.
It'll come from within the army. Priggy failed because he could not find enough support. As soon as someone comes along who does, it'll be game over for Putler.
I'm almost positive he got talked out of it with words about being on the same side and this is what our enemies want and don't shed Russian blood and on and on
To me it sounded more like “bro you’re alone and no one is going to have your back on this. Your best best at surviving this coup attempt is to join me in exile in Belarus while we wait for someone stronger to become our daddy.”
@BurnTheRight There is the Freedom of Russia battalion in the Ukrainian army. While indeed, it is a military structure subordinated to Ukrainian military leadership, its members are actual Russian citizens which have been trained by them. If enough of them go back and are willing to do it, they could organize and create some havoc as well, I believe. Just like it happened when they last crossed the border with Ukrainian military equipment.
I wonder what this will mean for Ramzan Kadyrov. He relies on Putin for protection, right? But if Putin is seen as the paper tiger he is, will Kadyrov be safe? His Kadyrovites didn’t have a very good showing yesterday, either, having just sat there in traffic for a few hours, probably dicking around on their phones.
Not to mention the fact that Wagner rolled through with zero resistance up to the point they turned around. They even had police vehicles in their convoy.
I noticed lemmygrad.ml was pretty quiet yesterday lol.
As Gil Scott Heron may have said if he was alive today, The Revolution Will Not Be Hashtagged.
In the grand scheme of things, the illusion that Russia can just wait out the West's appetite for war is definitely shattered. It's now clear Putin is running his own clock.
That's still a concerning development as I'm sure nobody wants the Russian state devolving into pure chaos, or for someone even more hardline than Putin to take his place. That's why I'm not too hot on people cheering for Russia's collapse.
In the grand scheme of things, the illusion that Russia can just wait out the West's appetite for war is definitely shattered. It's now clear Putin is running out his own clock.
That's still a concerning development as I'm sure nobody wants the Russian state devolving into pure chaos, or for someone even more hardline than Putin to take his place. That's why I'm not too hot on people cheering for Russia's collapse.