81 thoughts on “à la carte”

  1. from atlantic link:

    “As the political scientist and Eurasia Group president, Ian Bremmer, noted tonight: “Putin’s never looked weaker than right now, in the Ukraine war, and at home, which is welcome—and extremely dangerous.”

    “But no matter how this ends, Prigozhin has shattered Putin’s narrative, torching the war as a needless and even criminal mistake. That’s a problem for Putin that could outlast this rebellion.”

  2. Russia-Ukraine war live: Putin says those behind ‘armed rebellion’ will be punished; Wagner chief says he’s in Rostov military HQ – latest updates (theguardian.com)

    Putin gave an emergency televised address on Saturday as the Wagner mercenary chief leads an armed rebellion:

    • Putin said Russia was fighting “the toughest battle for its future”.

    • He said the Wagner “armed mutiny” was a “stab in the back” to Russia. He called the rebellion treason and said anyone who had taken up arms against the Russian military would be punished.

    • He said he would do everything to protect Russia, that the Russian armed forces “have been given the necessary orders” and that “decisive action” would be taken to stabilise the situation.

    • Putin said: “I will do everything possible to defend my country … And those who have organised an armed rebellion will be held accountable. Those who have been drawn into this, I call on you to stop your criminal actions.”

    • He also told viewers: “Personal interests have led to the betrayal of our country and the cause that our armed forces are fighting.”

  3. also later from same guardian “live” link:

    International policy experts have provided some analysis amid the armed rebellion by the Wagner mercenary group.

    James Nixey, Director, Russia and Eurasia Programme, at Chatham House: “Prigozhin may find some support in the Russian military (especially considering the ease with which he took Rostov), but he has none in Moscow, among the elite. He’s not Russia’s next president. Meanwhile, Moscow’s defences are bracing themselves. But the rump of the military that does remain loyal will try to soften up Wagner as it approaches.

    “Putin’s speech clearly showed he was rattled. He did not look confident and he did not reassure. After 24 years, this is the first direct challenge to his authority – even if both protagonists are not calling each other by name. That said, Putin still has more in the tank (excuse pun). He’s spent 14-odd years protecting Russia from a colour revolution. But he was probably right about one thing: ‘Russia’s future is at stake’.”

    Samantha de Bendern, Associate Fellow, in Chatham’s House Russia and Eurasia Programme: “Rostov is the most important military logistical hub for the Russian armed forces fighting in Ukraine. And yet there were not enough Russian military able or willing to stop Prigozhin take over the local military HQ.

    “A heavily armed Prigozhin then sat down to drink tea with an unarmed deputy defense minister and the deputy head of military intelligence, and moralized them like an angry school teacher. This is so surreal that any deep analysis is difficult at this point but the first round seems to have gone to Prigozhin.”

  4. repeated for emphasis:

    This is so surreal that any deep analysis is difficult at this point but the first round seems to have gone to Prigozhin.”

  5. a little dinner music to help digest today’s meal

    Dmitri Hvorostovsky singing “Moscow Nights” live at the “Last Night Of The Proms”

  9. Looking like a whole bunch of stuff happening in Ukraine and Russia. They all speak Russian, the Wagner force is battle hardened, including war crimes and plain crimes.  The russian army is the question.  If it goes with Wagner forces the game is over for puttie. If it does not then the outcome is unknown.  But, there are some going with a puttie finds a window to fall out of, along with others saying they do not want to guess, except all agree the little KGB agent is lessened going forth. 

    And, does this change how things are going in Ukraine?  Immediate answer is maybe, next answer is yes.  Wagner force has taken the military district that men and materiel pass through to get to Ukraine. 
     
    We have a fascinating situation to watch, lots of popcorn will be consumed.

  10. This seems dumb. Putin likens Wagner rebellion to Bolshevik revolution in 1917, which collapsed the Russian state: “It was precisely such a blow that was dealt to Russia in 1917, when the country was waging the WW1, but the victory was stolen from it. We won’t let this happen again.”

  12. Dump trucks full of sand being placed at all entrances to Moscow.  

    Putin’s aircraft turned away from Kazakhstan.

  14. So, bearing in mind that you can’t believe anything any Russian official, legitimate or otherwise, says, IF the attack on Wagner forces was an intended ‘hit’ on Prigozhin, than his coup is an act of self-preservation, just like Caesar’s was when the Roman Senate put a hit out on him.
     
    Meet the new scary m————-r, same as the old scary m—————r

  15. Don’t forget that Prigozhin is a guy who sanctions violent castrations of PoWs and executions of defectors with sledgehammers, or at the very least, wants you to believe he does 😬 

  16. @igorsushko
    Rumor: Putin is depressed and is incapable of making any decisions concerning Prigozhin’s ongoing coup. He offered to cede control over the country to Secretary of the Security Council Patrushev, BUT – Patrushev refused!

  17. OR MAYBE Shoigu coordinated WITH Prigozhin in a false flag operation to provide a front for the justification of a coup! 

  19. Rick Wilson
    The vast pro-Putin fan club in America’s alt-right and MAGA community is going to go through some things.

    Sushko:
    OMON Riot police have surrounded Wagner PMC headquarters in Molkino. Wagner troops have taken defensive positions. Helicopter armed with gatling guns dispatched to the area. This base is shared with GRU 10th Separate Special Purpose Brigade. Guess which side they’re on.

    %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

    Wait! Wait! Has anyone thought to check in with Tucker Carlson??

  20. so whither goest now puttie’s BFFs Xi, Erdogan Lukashenko, Orban as well as all those magaTs in critterville who are used to his largesse of either oil, disinformation help and/or $$$? 

  22. be nice if someone now sees fit to set free Navalny and the other political prisoners.  now that would really cause chaos from within.

  23. that @igorsushko feed seems to indicate this is a full-blown military conflict, nice reference Mr, S 🤝

  24. bink, there are rivals and there are situationally friendly rivals, particularly when it’s to their favor to wrest goodies from their other friendly rivals.

  25. Erdogan spoke out against Russian Aggression in Ukraine from the beginning, Turkey a Nato member state

  28. Ok, i resent having to use Elon Musk’s vanity platform of hate-speech to keep abreast of the happenings, so i’ll just express a hope that few innocents die today at the whims of powerful men who feed their egos with blood
     
    Slave Ukraine ✌️

  30. …looks like the second bad guy is also going to use the first bad guy’s army, Wagner allegedly assimilating Russian State units along the march to Moscow
     
    🫥🤞🤞

  31. Goodness what a thing to wake up to.
    When mobsters have a falling out it is the ordinary folks who die in the cross fire. 
    The Wagner guy has the ability to make Stalin look like a kindergarden  teacher, lets hope  him and Putie get together in a room with loaded weapons where they kill each other off.
    Jack

  33. Yes, who’s the darkest Brandon of them all…..

    Jack:
    “Goodness” had nothing to do with it.
    —Mae West

    lol

  34. Craig
    When, a nuclear power is descending into chaos it is good to have a president that has more than 2 working brain cells. Also, he hires good people and listens to their advice.
    Jack

  35. Sturge “goodness” is a term I picked up from my mother for use in polite company. roughly translated, it means “What the Fuck”
    Jack

  36. So I remember reading that Putin had moved tactical nukes closer to the border, I wonder where they are at. A mutinous army armed with tactical nukes. What could go wrong.
    Jack

  37. Though the curtain has yet to fall, it seems Putin made a fundamentally flawed decision at the outset.   Without knowing the facts surrounding his decision, it seems to just be a monstrously Bone-headed move.   Like invading Russia in the winter or something. I’d like to know truly why he chose to invade
    Also, the Wagnerians seem to have waited a bit late in the year for this bit, but maybe the planets weren’t aligned or something.

  38. Jack, I’ve been known to toss out a goodness or two my own self.   It’s a great one.    🙂

  39. Russian independent TV station in Finland reporting “Russian Prime Minister Mishustin’s plane has left for St. Petersburg. Several other business jets are also on their way to Russia’s northern capital. In addition, the richest member of the government, Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov, has already left the country.”

  40. The ONLY good that I see coming out of this Wagnerian insurrection is that it shows that Putin can’t continue to rely on Wagner to stop the Ukrainian counteroffensive and that Putin is in a much weakened position to control Russia. Prigozhin is certainly not the western friendly opposition leader we’d like to see arise in Russia. He’s one brutal muthafucka. 

  41. It’s when you get up to “Goodness gracious, sakes alive!” Territory ya gotta watch out, trouble’s comin’  fer sure!

  42. Endogamy does not agree with your assessment of his relationship with Putin, Bink. CNN, May 19, 2023  

    Erdogan hails ‘special relationship’ with Putin ahead of crucial Turkey runoff vote

    Istanbul (CNN) — Turkey has a “special” and growing relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin despite mounting pressure on Ankara to help bolster Western sanctions against Moscow, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in an exclusive interview ahead of next week’s presidential election runoff. 

    “We are not at a point where we would impose sanctions on Russia like the West have done. We are not bound by the West’s sanctions,” Erdogan told CNN’s Becky Anderson. “We are a strong state and we have a positive relationship with Russia.” 

    “Russia and Turkey need each other in every field possible,” he added. ….

    Turkish politician selling his views to the Turkish people.

  44. not for nothing Kamala Harris said the same thing about the right wingers that run Poland 
     
    Strange bedfellows, and all that

  45. Wagner/Prigozhin are no friends to Ukraine. Whether RUAF or Wagner, Ukraine should not count on a positive outcome or withdrawal from occupied territories. Russian forces are confused and likely lack will to fight (who are they fighting for?) Seize the initiative – Attack!!!

    Y. Vindman

     

  46. on the other hand, a bit of fanciful gaming out the situation:

    what if this is a cover to allow putie to

    1. pull out of ukraine somewhat saving face — has to save his mother russia first yada yada yada

    2. simultaneously get rid of the current nasties who will be blamed for lying to him and getting russia into the war to begin with

    3. install his old pal prigo in their place.

    but that’s giving him more credit for being deviously clever than he really is (prigo included).

  47. Speculation…  speculation.  It’s all very interesting.
    It reminds me of Michael Palin’s movie… “The Death of Stalin”.   One brutal dictator replaces another.

  48. I have been waiting for this tweet from Alexander Vinderman regarding the current situation in Russia and Ukraine. It is important because he is a real expert in these things.

    Ukraine held on, beyond all expectations and hopes. And now we are seeing the concrete beginning of the end of Putin. This war was also going be his undoing. Russia will be weaker… more dangerous for sometime, but weaker. And the world safer. We owe Ukraine a debt of gratitude.

  49. BB, some of the comments following that vindman tweet are good too:

    Putin is finally fighting actual Nazis.

    Russians in February 2022: “Onward to Berlin! Onward to Lisbon!” Russians in June 2023: “They can have Rostov, but we will defend Moscow to the last man!”

    And Donald Trump a jail cell.

  50. There are other chunks of fallout crashing about right now.  In Africa there are reports that the Wagner forces there are packing up and leaving.  That will require a lot more media coverage to understand it and if it results in the end of fighting there.  In South America the head of Venezuela might be getting nervous, he is in office due to Wagner group.  Who buncha stuff going on.

  51. “The Wagner Group is a couple of hours away from Moscow. The city is being defended by police forces and ill-equipped conscript units as 95+ percent of the Russian Army is in Eastern Ukraine.” — Visegrad24, indie Russian news site

  52. The online Telegram channel in Russia reports Moscow generals held an emergency meeting at the Interior Ministry this morning to prepare. An Interior Ministry source says: “No one on the force is ready for combat operations. Absolutely no one.” Behind the scenes, the generals are said to be “discussing how to serve the new regime.”

  53. How about they serve the Navalny regime and spring him from prison and stop acting like a nation of “Game of Thrones” villains
     
    …would be nice

  54. why is pravda of all newsmedia publishing story about putie leaving on plane out of moscow? smells planted. 

    any word or more info about his departure from more reliable sources out there?

  55. the guardian 2 hrs ago reported

    Speculation over Putin’s whereabouts amid reports his plane left Moscow
    There have been numerous reports that Vladimir Putin’s presidential plane took off from Moscow’s Vnukovo airport at 2.16pm local time (1216 BST) and then headed north-west.
    According to data from the FlightRadar tracking website, the plane reached the Tver area – about 110 miles from Moscow and where Putin has a residence – before disappearing from the system.
    It has not been possible to confirm whether Putin was on the plane and his spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, has told the Tass news agency the president is “working in the Kremlin”.
    Meanwhile, Iranian state media quoted the foreign ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani on Saturday as saying Iran supports the rule of law in the Russian Federation and considers the latest developments there an internal Russian matter.

  56. @nexta_tv
    ❗️ Putin’s plane took off from Moscow and disappeared from radar #Putin‘s special Il96-300PU (Point of Control) plane took off from #Moscow toward St. Petersburg at 14:16 Moscow time, FlightRadar data shows. The flight’s destination was not specified, and it disappeared from the tracking system near Tver. One of Putin’s residences is in the Tver region. The aircraft is equipped to control the Armed Forces.

    Image

  57. This makes some sense, from Visegrad24:

    “There’s more and more theories pointing toward Prigozhin only being the face of a larger coup, which is supported by parts of the Army and the intelligence services. The goal is to remove Putin, withdraw from Ukraine and return to making business with the world.”

  60. It’s rumored that #Putin landed at Teterboro Airport and is headed to the Trump National Golf Club at Bedminster, NJ.

  61. Apparently Wagner group is to turn around and return to Ukraine.  Something fishy there as puttie will do his best to damage them.  And, there is the possibility those bases do not exist anymore as Ukraine military is moving in many areas.

  64. whskyjack: “So Craig is that theories as in guesses or theories as in supported by facts?”

    As Kissinger once said about some strange Russian behavior confusing analysts: “Never assume they have a theory”

  65. Looking around some of the reliable folks one thing is popping up, more information is needed.  Puttie did a small overhaul of his military leader and made the Wagner forces not criminals, nice but not needed.  Some thought a Kabuki theater, some thought it was to show other things.  Not one solid reason for what happened.  There is a report that the good people of Rostov were happy to be liberated and chanting “Wagner, Wagner”.  I tend to think that moving all those troops out of Ukraine allowed the Ukraine military to move against the russian positions.  But, still something stinks and will take days, or even weeks, to find out.

  68. was it all a ruse to entice ukranian forces to flow into occupied territory to be cut off in a pincer movement by russian forces on both north and south?   or am i attributing too much war ingenuity on their part?

    looks like ukranians were wise to hold back if that is the case and was the plan. 

  70. Things proving weirdly interesting.

    Kremlin spox Dmitry Peskov: – charges dropped against Prigozhin, who will leave Russia for Belarus – Wagner fighters who didn’t take part in the uprising will sign contracts with the MOD – Wagner fighters who did take part not charged – No word on potential MOD leadership changes

  72. If a crisis was averted, is Poo-tin actually stronger, or does this show someone else that he can be toppled and has few friends to take him in?

    I’m sure tRUMPsky is taking notes with his tiny hands and a giant Sharpie.

  73. What happens now?

    Frank Gardner
    BBC News, Security Correspondent

    Even for seasoned Kremlin-watchers, this has been the most extraordinary 24 hours.
    One moment Russia looked to be almost on the brink of civil war with Moscow’s most effective ground force, the Wagner group, rebelling in open defiance of the Kremlin.
    The next, it all appeared to be over with the renegade mercenary boss Yevgeny Prigozhin backing down and withdrawing his forces after a phone call from the Belarus leader.
    What exactly was said in that phone call?
    We are not told, but it’s fair to assume that Prigozhin was given some home truths somewhere along the lines of: “Look, you’re on your own here, no one has come out in support for you, and if you continue on this course a lot of blood is going to be spilled, and that’s Russian blood.”
    Where does this leave the Wagner group? They have, after all, been a useful arms-length tool for the Kremlin for the past eight years, promoting its interests from Mali to Ukraine with scant regard for human rights.
    But it’s hard to see how President Putin could ever again trust his former protege Prigozhin.
    He’s accused him of treachery and betrayal and the FSB security forces consider him a criminal.
    So expect purges and possibly some reshuffling in the defence ministry. And, meanwhile, the war in Ukraine will likely continue unabated. For the hard-pressed Ukrainian troops on the front line, the intermission is over.

  74. I did forget to cover the beasts that formed the Wagner Group. War criminals, stench of death, rape, and horrible things follow them. Sledge hammer to the head executions. Puttie allows those that did not march contracts to russian regular army.  The others? Maybe a contract maybe not get out of country.

    What they bring to the russian conscripts is war hardened troops. Experience and being able to back up the conscripts. The russians already were war criminals but not as horrible. 
     
    Overall?  We still need information.  The speculation is all over the place right now.

  76. Does anyone, including Progi, really believe he has amnesty?  Stay away from open windows.  

    Who takes his place in leading the Wagner troops who are now conscripted into the Russian army?  Weren’t they about out of generals? 

    I guess the veil has dropped for Russians to see things are not going well in Ukraine.

  77. BB – If everyone fighting is now under Russian government control, they no longer have plausible deniability provided by those fighting as part of Wagner.   Isn’t that worse for Russia, too?

  78. about those prigo troops that are not merging into reg. russian army, news reporter said they were being allowed to follow prigo into belarus.  so maybe that’s the secret plan, a wagner led attack from belarus to northern ukraine.  putie once more trying  to take kyiv. 

    some more sleepless nights ahead for the capitol.  nightmares of nukes and prigo.

  80. Well i guess that’s how you do that:
     

  81. patD – Yeah, because if Poo-tin, who is already paranoid, thinks things are going south, he’s gonna burn it all to the ground.  The nuclear facility is even more worrisome now.  He’ll not go quietly. 

    Prigo’s days are numbered, as are those who followed him.   Are they really going to be forgiven and be part of the Russian army?  Will they be trusted? 
     

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