The Washington Post reports that the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, “hid” and could not act decisively when the head of the Wagner mercenary group launched his attempted rebellion in June, with some critics saying Putin has now lost his reputation as the “toughest man in town” due to the incident.
Intelligence shared with the Post suggests that Putin had been warned by security services days before Yevgeny Prigozhin, a former close confidant of the president, was preparing for a potential mutiny, which took place the morning of 24 June.
The Russian president had been warned by the Russian security services at least two or three days ahead of time that Prigozhin was preparing a possible rebellion, according to intelligence assessments shared with The Washington Post. Steps were taken to boost security at several strategic facilities, including the Kremlin, where staffing in the presidential guard was increased and more weapons were handed out, but otherwise no actions were taken, these officials said.
This apparent inaction and lack of direction from the Kremlin during the crisis has left Putin significantly weakened, according to his critics.
Gennady Gudkov, an opposition politician in exile and former colonel in the Russian security services, said:
Putin showed himself to be a person who is not able to make serious, important and quick decisions in critical situations. He just hid.
This was not understood by most of the Russian population. But it was very well understood by Putin’s elite. He is no longer the guarantor of their security and the preservation of the system.
A senior Moscow financier with links to Russian intelligence services said echoed Gudkov’s concerns and said: “[Putin] lost his reputation as the toughest man in town.”
Reminds me of Stalin’s initial carpet-gnawing reaction when (surprise!) Hitler betrayed their pact and invaded. Unfortunately, once he recovered he only intensified the victimisation of his own people.
Bets on if China arrests him?
https://twitter.com/NOELreports/status/1683907394613411870
Navalny, a prominent anti-Kremlin figure sentenced to prison in 2021 in what international organizations called a sham trial, acknowledged that Girkin has been convicted by a Dutch court for the downing of the MH17 airliner.
He also noted that the former commander of Russian proxy forces in Donbas admitted to taking part in hostilities in Ukraine. The downing of MH17 and Girkin’s acts in Ukraine should be investigated by Russian authorities and courts should provide a “fair assessment” of the events, Navalny said.
He argued that Girkin was not detained over his past acts in Ukraine, but on false charges of extremism, simply for criticizing Russian dictator Vladimir Putin and Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu.
Construction of the extension will begin early next year.
“Due to the ongoing war in Ukraine, the country’s largest hospital based in Lviv is reaching capacity and in urgent need of expansion,”
A talking head accidentally mentions that Girkin started the uprising in the Donbas in 2014.
Good job scaring smart people out of the country
Russian Yelp: “One half star, would not take car there again.”
Because i’m mostly of polish decent I actively try to avoid making comments about ethnic stereotypes regarding alcohol but holy fucking shit you guys are making it rough to do so
I’ve mentioned before that I’ve never seen as much 24-hour public falling-down drunkenness anywhere I’ve been (including New Orleans and NYC) as I did in Russia. It was shocking.
Massive and widespread alcoholism is a genuine problem in Russia, especially among men. The stresses of the war do not help in that regard.
From that same channel an odd occurrence involving a wounded tank…
