Prigozhin has announced the end of his siege and that Wagner is leaving. 🇷🇺 🏴☠️ Prigozhin says it's over: "They were going to dismantle PMC Wagner. We came out on 23 June to the March of Justice. In a day, we walked to nearly 200km away from Moscow. In this time, we did not spill a single drop of blood of our fighters. Now, the moment has come when blood may spill. That’s why, understanding the responsibility for spilling Russian blood on one of the sides, we are turning back our convoys and going back to field camps according to the plan."
This whole event smells like it came from the CIA's "let's pretend it's 1961 and Russia is Zaire" playbook. This "coup" played out like the one in Turkey, but even more ridiculous.
the CIA today is even dumber than when they tried to take down Erdogan.
Outstanding stuff, Simplicius. Thank you. If, as you speculate, Prigozhin was acting as an agent for the Western powers and seeking to overthrow Putin, then I do wonder how Putin can just leave him be? Perhaps, in Belarus, he will kept under tight control by Lukashenko? But, even then, he's still a loose cannon and, more significantly, a rallying point.
If he has sold out, then he can never be trusted again. Time to break out the polonium?
Wow! And that was just a couple of days. Now I understand why Russian novels are so long and convoluted! Russian family life is like this too. Tolstoy documented this very well.
Meantime, thanks for the updates! And a heads-up to US & others - whoever Vladimir Putin is, he is not who you think of him as. So you'll keep misreading him. Not good.
Question, have you ever read the book “In Search of Enemies” (1978) by John Stockwell? He was a career CIA officer who got disillusioned in the aftermath of Vietnam and the Angolan Civil War and resigned.
He wrote the book as a tell-all expose. It’s a great read and a great insight into the CIA of yesterday, and I assume, today.
infighting is never good! hard to know what was going on here.. fog of war... i think prigozhin shares some characteristics with donald trump... thanks so much for this update!
Andrei Martyanov chimes in, after speaking with his contacts in Russia. He warns AGAINST relying on Telegram channels for info. He also advises that a large sum of money was found when the Wagner headquarters was raided. His video here: https://youtu.be/0rpi3ibN0o4
I’ll be interested to see how this finally shakes out in the coming days. If things are to be taken at face value Putin must make some sort of action in his time. I doubt he forgets.
I must applaud the scriptwriters for this unexpected twist. Now that would be an idea for a comments gimmick - reviewing real-life events as new films or series episode.
Prigozhin's Gambit is the latest installment of the Ukraine-Russia drama that has been near the top of the ratings since February 2022. Involving a sudden apparent betrayal by the fiery Wagner leader, the writers may have taken this liberty both to heighten the climax of the counteroffensive and provide a window into the enigmatic Russia for worldbuilding purposes. English-subtitled watchers without the same level of language immersion and social context that comes with living from the area will be pleased to have this segue into the interior, in order to help demystify the nation. To do this, it falls back on classic tropes - a charismatic leader challenging the embattled and controversial war leaders of his nation, perhaps in a bid for power over not only the military, but also the nation. This familiar story skeleton will certainly help bring in foreign eyes, a simple story arc that allows the writers to both show the interior of a side that normally gets little coverage and get around the limitations of subtites.
The arc itself promises to be quite entertaining, particularly in dealing with the fallout. We eagerly await the next installment.
Your speed is amazing !
Putin's opponents have usually taken flight .... like, through 6th story windows.
My problem with Prigozhin from the beginning is his neglect of the first rule of command: you never complain to lower ranks. You only complain upward.
Another such behavior was don't the enemy quarter by publicly quarreling with your comrades in arms.
My question is, while I am not on the Kremlin's email list, why did Putin put up with him for thos long?
"Permit me to be immodest, but I did something for this country"
- Alexander Lukashenko
This whole event smells like it came from the CIA's "let's pretend it's 1961 and Russia is Zaire" playbook. This "coup" played out like the one in Turkey, but even more ridiculous.
the CIA today is even dumber than when they tried to take down Erdogan.
Forgive? Chance zero.
idea for a future post: a basic primer on intra-Kremlin politics for normies.
Who are in each faction? Who are "frenemies" of Putin? Who are sympathetic to oligarchs? Are there still any Atlanticists left? etc.
What a totally BIZARRE 24 hrs.
I can't believe Priggy is just going to go free? No repercussions. I don't think Putin is that stupid
He looked pretty angry in his address to Russia earlier today.
I see US/UK fingerprints all over this.
I suppose when the dust settles the truth might emerge.
The most grievous part to me is the reports of 7 aircraft and crews lost.
Andrei Martyanov in his patron video only mentioned one helicopter.
Thank you for your great reporting and analysis.
What a day!!
Outstanding stuff, Simplicius. Thank you. If, as you speculate, Prigozhin was acting as an agent for the Western powers and seeking to overthrow Putin, then I do wonder how Putin can just leave him be? Perhaps, in Belarus, he will kept under tight control by Lukashenko? But, even then, he's still a loose cannon and, more significantly, a rallying point.
If he has sold out, then he can never be trusted again. Time to break out the polonium?
Wow! And that was just a couple of days. Now I understand why Russian novels are so long and convoluted! Russian family life is like this too. Tolstoy documented this very well.
Meantime, thanks for the updates! And a heads-up to US & others - whoever Vladimir Putin is, he is not who you think of him as. So you'll keep misreading him. Not good.
Great article, Simplicius.
Question, have you ever read the book “In Search of Enemies” (1978) by John Stockwell? He was a career CIA officer who got disillusioned in the aftermath of Vietnam and the Angolan Civil War and resigned.
He wrote the book as a tell-all expose. It’s a great read and a great insight into the CIA of yesterday, and I assume, today.
Keep up the good work!
infighting is never good! hard to know what was going on here.. fog of war... i think prigozhin shares some characteristics with donald trump... thanks so much for this update!
Andrei Martyanov chimes in, after speaking with his contacts in Russia. He warns AGAINST relying on Telegram channels for info. He also advises that a large sum of money was found when the Wagner headquarters was raided. His video here: https://youtu.be/0rpi3ibN0o4
I’ll be interested to see how this finally shakes out in the coming days. If things are to be taken at face value Putin must make some sort of action in his time. I doubt he forgets.
I must applaud the scriptwriters for this unexpected twist. Now that would be an idea for a comments gimmick - reviewing real-life events as new films or series episode.
Prigozhin's Gambit is the latest installment of the Ukraine-Russia drama that has been near the top of the ratings since February 2022. Involving a sudden apparent betrayal by the fiery Wagner leader, the writers may have taken this liberty both to heighten the climax of the counteroffensive and provide a window into the enigmatic Russia for worldbuilding purposes. English-subtitled watchers without the same level of language immersion and social context that comes with living from the area will be pleased to have this segue into the interior, in order to help demystify the nation. To do this, it falls back on classic tropes - a charismatic leader challenging the embattled and controversial war leaders of his nation, perhaps in a bid for power over not only the military, but also the nation. This familiar story skeleton will certainly help bring in foreign eyes, a simple story arc that allows the writers to both show the interior of a side that normally gets little coverage and get around the limitations of subtites.
The arc itself promises to be quite entertaining, particularly in dealing with the fallout. We eagerly await the next installment.