This whole story is beyond weird. None of it makes any sense - a fast moving coup against an established government, an abrupt about face, and then exile into a neighboring country - only to come back “home” to pick up your prized pistol and a few other things. Oh, and also to meet up the leader you tried to overthrow.
But, for what goal, though? I’m asking because I’m genuinely curious. It made Putin look weak and it really seemed like he and this crony cabinet were on the run. It’s not like Putin squashed down the rebellion in a show of force - instead, Wagner said “yeah, it’s all good, imma turn around now and peace out to Belarus. Lates”.
Did it really make him look weak, though? He’s consolidated the military under the MoD umbrella, his comradery with Lukashenko likely improved, the West is admitting that Ukraine is running out of ammo (thus the cluster ammunition) and he (or rather Lukashenko) has a strong private army close to the Ukrainian border, about 90km from Kiev.
The only people claiming his weakness were some Western officials and the press and both haven’t been particularly trustworthy nor well informed in their assessments of the situation thus far.
Edit: Not to forget that Prigozhin made it clear that his problems weren’t with Putin but with MoD leadership/Shoigu.
That’s my guess - a coordinated effort to look weak to root out any issues with the clans that run each area. Loyalty check and you get to fuck with the West’s head a bit. If Putin wanted him dead he’d already be dead. There are useful idiots out there and Putin loves to look better than everyone else around him. Reminds me of a former US President …
I don’t think any of this was coordinated. I used to live in Russia and the amount of rouge corruption is staggering. This sounds like an argument that got out of hand. It just so happens that the people arguing had troops.
This whole story is beyond weird. None of it makes any sense - a fast moving coup against an established government, an abrupt about face, and then exile into a neighboring country - only to come back “home” to pick up your prized pistol and a few other things. Oh, and also to meet up the leader you tried to overthrow.
Because it’s likely theater …
But, for what goal, though? I’m asking because I’m genuinely curious. It made Putin look weak and it really seemed like he and this crony cabinet were on the run. It’s not like Putin squashed down the rebellion in a show of force - instead, Wagner said “yeah, it’s all good, imma turn around now and peace out to Belarus. Lates”.
Did it really make him look weak, though? He’s consolidated the military under the MoD umbrella, his comradery with Lukashenko likely improved, the West is admitting that Ukraine is running out of ammo (thus the cluster ammunition) and he (or rather Lukashenko) has a strong private army close to the Ukrainian border, about 90km from Kiev.
The only people claiming his weakness were some Western officials and the press and both haven’t been particularly trustworthy nor well informed in their assessments of the situation thus far.
Edit: Not to forget that Prigozhin made it clear that his problems weren’t with Putin but with MoD leadership/Shoigu.
That’s my guess - a coordinated effort to look weak to root out any issues with the clans that run each area. Loyalty check and you get to fuck with the West’s head a bit. If Putin wanted him dead he’d already be dead. There are useful idiots out there and Putin loves to look better than everyone else around him. Reminds me of a former US President …
I don’t think any of this was coordinated. I used to live in Russia and the amount of rouge corruption is staggering. This sounds like an argument that got out of hand. It just so happens that the people arguing had troops.