Russian Troll Tells Truth

Scuttlebutt
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From NYT this afternoon. Edited at … Bold added:

The feud between Russia’s government and Yevgeny V. Prigozhin, the outspoken mercenary tycoon, escalated sharply on Friday, as Mr. Prigozhin accused the military of attacking his forces, vowed to retaliate and declared on social media that Russia’s “evil” military leadership “must be stopped.” Russian law enforcement immediately accused him of “organizing an armed rebellion.”

…Mr. Prigozhin… gained international prominence after his online “troll factory” interfered in the 2016 American presidential election — and after his Wagner fighters were deployed in Syria and across Africa as a shadow force believed to be fighting for Kremlin interests.

…There was no immediate sign the conflict between the mercenary leader and military leaders would lead to armed clashes on the ground in Russia, but the fast-moving developments late Friday evening represented the most dramatic internal conflict inside the country to spill into the open since President Vladimir V. Putin’s invasion of Ukraine began 16 months ago.

“The evil carried by the country’s military leadership must be stopped,” Mr. Prigozhin said in one of a series of voice recordings posted to the Telegram social network after 9 p.m. Moscow time.Minutes later, he suggested that his Wagner mercenary force was prepared to go on the offensive against Russia’s own Defense Ministry, saying, “There’s 25,000 of us, and we are going to figure out why chaos is happening in the country.”

Mr. Prigozhin…took his accusations to a new level, claiming that the Russian military had attacked Wagner encampments, killing “a huge number of fighters.”

…He accused the Russian minister of defense, Sergei K. Shoigu, of orchestrating a deadly attack with missiles and helicopters on camps to the rear of the Russian lines in Ukraine, where his soldiers of fortune were bivouacked…

…“The war wasn’t needed to return Russian citizens to our bosom, nor to demilitarize or denazify Ukraine,” Mr. Prigozhin said, referring to Mr. Putin’s initial justifications for the war. “The war was needed so that a bunch of animals could simply exult in glory.”…“Our holy war with those who offend the Russian people, with those who are trying to humiliate them, has turned into a racket,” he said…

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Prig and Wagner just seized Rostov, took the MoD, grabbed more troops, and is heading out towards Verozneh and points Northerly…

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I love it.

The Russian guy who worked for Putin trolling the USA in order to split it apart, is now…

…wait for it…

Trolling Putin and splitting Russians apart!

You couldn’t make this stuff up if you tried…

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Well I guess we will find out how dear of a leader he will be once he reaches the Kremlin.

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How can he expect to survive this without external assistance ?

Or does he ?

Could this be an attempt to drag NATO into this ?

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According to Anne Applebaum finding reliable sources in Russia is almost impossible. These bloggers may be reliable

@AricToler

@christogrozev

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The Wagner Group is the latest iteration of the Italian condottieri of the Middle Ages. Reliable up until the point they take mass casualties. Then they stop fighting and demand more money.

The Wagner Group was broken over the winter. Prigozhin complained loudly about it. My guess is he demanded more money. Note the contract negotiations mentioned in the article below. Putin’s counter-offer? He gave orders to liquidate him and his group. Cesare Borgia would have approved.

Think of it as strike-breaking with extreme prejudice.

Just my guess of course.

One thing about the condottieri: when they tired of their old boss they were infamous for simply switching sides and working for the other guy…Beats hanging…

From APNews this morning. Edited at…

The private army led by Prigozhin appeared to control the military headquarters in Rostov-on-Don, a city 660 miles (over 1,000 kilometers) south of Moscow that runs Russian offensive operations in Ukraine, Britain’s Ministry of Defense said….

“All those who prepared the rebellion will suffer inevitable punishment,” Putin said. “The armed forces and other government agencies have received the necessary orders.”…

Prigozhin said his forces faced no resistance from young conscripts as they crossed into Russia…

Prigozhin said he wanted to punish Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu after he accused Russian government forces of attacking Wagner field camps in Ukraine with rockets, helicopter gunships and artillery. He claimed that “a huge number of our comrades got killed.”…

Prigozhin said Wagner’s forces shot down a Russian military helicopter that fired on a civilian convoy, but there was no independent confirmation of that…

He alleged that Gen. Valery Gerasimov, chief of the General Staff, ordered the attacks following a meeting with Shoigu, where they decided to destroy Wagner…

Prigozhin said he had 25,000 troops under his command and urged the army not to offer resistance…

Prigozhin, whose feud with the Defense Ministry dates back years, had refused to comply with a requirement that his forces sign contracts with the ministry before July 1. He said Friday he was ready for a compromise but “they have treacherously cheated us.”…

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I wonder where that 6.3 billion dollar rounding error went after all?

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From BBC News:

https://www.bbc.com/news/live/world-europe-66006142?ns_mchannel=social&ns_source=twitter&ns_campaign=bbc_live&ns_linkname=6497e6c31babaa614a47328b%26Wagner%20troops%20left%20Rostov-on-Don%20to%20sound%20of%20applause%20and%20gunshots%262023-06-25T07%3A03%3A32.461Z&ns_fee=0&pinned_post_locator=urn:asset:f475eca3-2c02-456b-a816-434c6f4d8622&pinned_post_asset_id=6497e6c31babaa614a47328b&pinned_post_type=share

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Alexander Khodakovsky:

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image848×1072 62.9 KB

From here.

From Rostov to Moscow is 1,200 km (680 miles), Prigozhin was 200 km (124 miles) from Moscow when he turned back.

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Wagner is carrying out Russian policy all over Africa and they are firmly within the Kremlins control. This is a dust up between Prigozhin and the MOD and should he get his way Russia will allocate more resources and troops to fighting in Ukraine.

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If I was Prigozhin I’d stay away from any building taller than two stories that has windows…

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Wagner Force was slated for offensive action in Kharkov region, but moved north with 6000 troops on the M4 highway. Russian MOD cleared the highway of civilian traffic and were preparing to strike with fixed wing aircraft. No way Wagner was gonna make it to Moscow.

The fact that the coup received no external assistance is evidence that Putins hold on power is still strong.

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I wouldn’t bet against Prigozhin making old bones. On of the best analysis of the twisted workings of the Kremlin is the book Blowout by Rachel Maddox . ISBN 978-0-525-57547-4, Dewey 338.2.
Putin and his minions won’t rest until Prigoshin and any of his lieutenants are taken out.

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So who is the head of Wagner now ?

There are 20,000 plus Russian convicts who have served their required stretch with Wagner in Ukraine for their freedom, who want to return to Russia, but are now being told they have to sign up for the Russian army.
I don’t think this is the end of the problem.

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Who will pay them for their service so far?

It is 32 years since USSR broke up, creating a mess in both the Russian Federation and many of the new independent states that was created by the breakup. (Incl. Ukraine)

Let us hope for a better outcome this time. Nobody would want a repeat of the dangerous situation in 1989-92, when it looked like Russia could break up into many mini-republics, (the “Oleg & Olga Republic” concept) each with their share of the largest nuclear arsenal in the world. In stead it ended up being spread around a number of unstable new states, with the majority in the hands of a drunkard in Kremlin.

The situation was saved by an agreement in 1994 ( Budapest Memorandum)
whereby Ukraine became a signatory to the NPT against guarantees of it’s secure borders signed by Russia, US, UK:

PS> IF Putin falls there are no guarantee that he will be replaced by a pro-western democrat.

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From WAPO today. Edited at …:

…In a bombshell revelation during a meeting with military service members at the Kremlin, Putin, who for years denied any state link to Wagner, admitted for the first time that the mercenaries were fully state-financed. He added that Russia paid the Wagner Group more than $1 billion from May 2022 to May 2023, while Prigozhin’s Concord company was paid almost $1 billion to supply food to the military. “I hope that no one stole anything or stole not much, but we will deal with all this,” [Putin] said…

…The admission that Russian authorities spent so much money on a “private” mercenary group could backfire on Putin… The disclosure could be especially damaging after Prigozhin’s repeated accusations that Russian military leaders are minimizing the death toll in Ukraine, which he claims has run as high as 1,000 soldiers a day either killed, seriously wounded or deserting…

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Anne Applebaum is not revered by all . Quote: an egghead married to a polish egghead who made himself " famous " for his quote " thank You USA" End quote.

(316) The end of the Wagner overture | MOATS Monologue with George Galloway Ep 250 - YouTube