I’ve bolded the part that obviously wouldn’t be true in the U.S., and I’d be surprised if Putin views it differently. But I don’t know enough about Russian politics to say.
Possibly Putin and Prigozhin are setting up the Russian military as the bad guys and liars ( in the Russian populations eyes, I think we all agree they are all, not nice at all , people) so Putin has cover to exit Ukraine with a “I was lied to” excuse, followed by more people going out the window.
I have no idea if the Russian people would actually believe that , but if Putin and Prigozhin believe they would , and it gives Putin an internal delusion that it was someone else’s fault , they may think it provides a feasible way out.
https://twitter.com/wartranslated/status/1672329967902904320
https://twitter.com/christogrozev/status/1672332752627154946
The Russian people can believe as many as six impossible things before breakfast.
Or they understand that it’s safer to keep what they really believe to themselves while they get on with their daily lives - just in the good ole USSR.
Yes, that’s what I was implying.
Zelensk’s Zeroes were given the assignment, but Prigozhin beat them to it.
https://twitter.com/KevinRothrock/status/1672352398302380033
https://twitter.com/christogrozev/status/1672356816011837440
Pretty sure it’s not just Ukrainian psy-ops. General Surovikin has published a video on Telegram imploring Wagner soldiers not to fight and to obey the President.
https://twitter.com/wartranslated/status/1672357331663765504
One thing to understand about Russians right now—this is not unique to Russia, of course—is that there is currently no public sentiment, to say nothing of critical mass, for massive protests (not least because of the decade-plus prison sentence one can expect); people for the most part prefer to stay at home and do nothing. They also lean quite conservative, so if the government were to collapse, for whatever reason, what would replace it? In all likelihood one even more to the right than the current one.
It’s very strange that all this dissention would be aired in public on official’s Telegram channels. It may all be true, but I would be leery of this being propaganda to explain troop movements or something. Ukraine should be on alert for a Russian attack somewhere.
But if it is true… Hilarious.
Tom Nichols, 5 min ago: “I am trying to stay caught up but I would be lying if I said I knew exactly what’s going on; I doubt anyone in the West (or few in Russia!) knows” https://twitter.com/RadioFreeTom/status/1672363439509975040?s=20
Summary as of an hour ago:
max seddon
@maxseddon
To recap:
– Wagner’s Prigozhin vows a “march of justice” vs. Russia’s army
– the FSB “launched a criminal case over calls for an armed uprising”
– Putin’s spox: “all essential measures are being taken”
– unclear what is happening bar many Telegram posts
https://twitter.com/maxseddon/status/1672348925498359809?s=20
Recommended twitter feed (list) on Ukraine:
https://twitter.com/i/lists/1494877848087187461
Putin, Prigozhin (holding bottle) and GW Bush during happier times: https://twitter.com/lrozen/status/1672364932526899204?s=20
There is nothing funny about civil war. Horrible thing. Here’s a dissenting view, Thread:
Oz Katerji
@OzKaterji
Sorry I know this is very serious but I’m in Kyiv & have no meaningful way of covering this story for you except by retweeting Russian telegram screenshots. This is however definitely in the top 3 funniest things that has happened in my lifetime & I absolutely am going to laugh.
https://twitter.com/OzKaterji/status/1672360046913630209?s=20
https://twitter.com/KevinRothrock/status/1672364073831350274
https://twitter.com/KevinRothrock/status/1672365292524126208
Recently posted at nytimes.com:
So — seems like a failed coup.
I think it’ll take a while to understand what is actually happening.
Assuming we ever do know for sure.
What today has taught me is that no matter what happens of actual geopolitical importance, MSNBC will never cover it and will yammer on endlessly about Trump instead.
I find the language used by the news coming out sort of vague:
Russian Prosecutor General Igor Krasnov made a report to President Vladimir Putin about initiating a criminal case against Wagner Group chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, according to Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov.
“The Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation Krasnov reported to Putin about initiating a criminal case in connection with an attempt to organize an armed rebellion,” he told Russian state media RIA Novosti in a comment on Friday.
According to him, the Prosecutor General also informed the president on the legality of initiating such a criminal case.
He reported about initiating a case. He informed the president about the legality of the case.
Is this kind of vague statement typical? I mean, it might mean that the prosecutor general told Putin “I’m not initiating a case because there is no legal basis” and the statement would still be correct.
There really isn’t a lot to report on.
@maxseddon
For those of you new to this media environment. The main sources of info are an army that lies about everything; a warlord who owns an infamous troll factory and lied about it for years; and the Kremlin. And Russia destroyed the media, so there aren’t any good independent sources
https://twitter.com/john_sipher/status/1672396748394774529?s=20
Until something definitive comes out (such as incarceration, a body bag, or possibly a military engagement) we’re in the realm of uninformed speculation and informed conjecture. For the latter, I’ll repeat my link:
https://twitter.com/i/lists/1494877848087187461
Aric Toler of Bellingcat, 5 hours ago:
Count me as very suspicious about this “attack”. The video showing panicked running through the camp, leading to some damaged trees and exactly two little fires, and one corpse (or “corpse”). https://twitter.com/AricToler/status/1672327117189570560?s=20
There’s a lot of unverified stuff out there. But it seems to be edging closer n closer to “something is happening” or at least that Russia is treating this as something is happening.
Kind of nuts.