ok what the fuck is happening in ukraine

Definitely question some bits of that Stanayova tweet like the certainty of Wagner being eliminated quickly had they actually reached Moscow and engaged in battle with Russian forces routinely described as inferior to them, given also the support for Wagner in Rostov. But yeah can't otherwise explain the about turn.

i mean wagner did not have very many guys, idk how long it wouldve taken russia to get their act together to take them out but one would think they couldve done it, however did russia want to have a russian on russian battle in moscow no of course not

Probably just annoyed that her credence regarding Putin's supposed shrewdness in all this is accurate tbh

putin is def shrewd you dont get to be putin if youre not shrewd

It's overstated tho, as we can readonably surmise from... *gestures at most things*

Dude may be cunning/shrewd but let’s not go overboard saying he’s even smart. Dude got the country into an unwinnable unpopular war.

sure hes human he makes mistakes but as far as working your way up from nothing to a 25 year run as the dictator of a major country you can only tip your cap

tragic that he fucked up so bad trying to put the feather in his cap

broadly some possibilities

1 weak desperate move that prigoz barely got out of alive

2 plan coordinated with sympathetic elites to weaken putin

3 solo attack via which he extracted major future concessions

― lag∞n, Sunday, 25 June 2023 bookmarkflaglink

Logical set of possibilities. Powerful.

I’m seeing so many dumb theories on Twitter about this. It’s watching the first season of True Detective again.

i personally wouldnt get mad if someone didnt like a tweet i posted, thats their choice if they dont like a tweet

I am a logic enjoyer now. It's the truth.

you can't logic here it's the noosphere room

important statements incoming

The Kremlin said Putin will “make a series of important statements” tonight

— Pjotr Sauer (@PjotrSauer) June 26, 2023

"Success. I goaded the Pigman, drew him out of his lair, now he is in the pen, awaiting further instruction. I have folded his troops into mine, and I only have to pay them regular pay, with 0 trouble about what was 'owed' Pigman. I have also noted the generals who were so very easy to use as goads. All For Holy MotherFatherland Russia!"

xpost Finally telling us his favorite Steely Dan songs.

BREAKING: “Putin will emit a series of sounds through his talk-hole tonight”.

He's going to take credit for Havana Syndrome

Also looking for a new kremlin catering director

confirms spurs are ready to consider making an "important bid" for james maddison

BREAKING: Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko will also deliver a statement tonight, after Putin announced one as well

— BNO News (@BNONews) June 26, 2023

which one will be holding Progozhin's head?

seriously, I bet Putin's statement will just be about how he's still in charge, and there's nothing to worry about, and full speed ahead with the war!

and also full mobilization of military aged men

He said the organizers of the rebellion will be brought to justice but, other than that, a whole lot of nothing.

Maybe he meant they'll be brought to this chap, for, I dunno, rapping classes?

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/p74ToBQnIis/sddefault.jpg

No justice, no мир

lol Lukashenko statement already nixed

Prigozhin was rumoured to have been spotted at the Green City hotel in Minsk on Monday, according to the Russian news channel Brief. A receptionist at the hotel contacted by the Guardian said she “could not share any information” about guests.

Brillant investigation tactics

I’m going to call reception and asks them for a list of guests.

I have a friend in Minsk
who has a friend in Pinks

dammit PINSK

rochelle, rochelle

maybe he's back in the hotel's kitchen, starting all over again

gonna put him in a hot dog costume in a hot dog car

I was just hearing that Prigozhin was cheered in the streets, en route to Moscow as well as during his expulsion to Belarus

That has to be sort troubling for Putin

rochelle, rochelle

you don't have to putin the red light

https://i.imgur.com/UJOuqff.jpg

Just 5 guys and some portable gates , nbd

rochelle, rochelle
you don't have to putin the red light

― pomplamoose and circumstance (Ye Mad Puffin), Monday, 26 June 2023 22:19 (thirty-two minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

nice

wagner fights for money
you don’t care if it’s wrong or if it’s right

less thinktank CYA from startled people making like it was obvious all along; more stories like this

Among the greatest quotes in @Reuters' long history:

'"Everyone shat themselves badly," said one source with knowledge of the thinking at the top levels of the Russian business and political elites..."Anyone with anything to lose was extremely tense"

https://t.co/SiNOTZcKfr https://t.co/eE5Gy6lgsw

— Shashank Joshi (@shashj) June 28, 2023

guess it was a coup

Two sources tell the Moscow Times that Army General Surovikin was placed under arrest. https://t.co/VlZCBm4qVP

— Rob Lee (@RALee85) June 28, 2023

I heard he was a bit of a big-head

Johnny Too Bald

You’re gonna run to the Rostov for rescue, there will be no Rostov

Not sure if this has already been shared, but I didn't realise until yesterday it was outside the paywall. The maps are very helpful and it's updated regularly:

Ukraine’s counteroffensive against Russia in maps — latest updates

Also a minor point from way upthread on a question calz asked about troop recognition during Prigozhin's thunder run. Apparently the only thing that separated troop ID was that Wagner Group had put duck tape around their armband insignia's identifying them as Russian troops. It was very difficult to tell the difference in other words. One critical area of uncertainty was whether troops were letting WG troops through because sympathetic or because of confusion due to delay in command and control processes letting troops know the situation. That probably goes into a box marked 'retrospectively unknowable until historical analysis can be applied'.

Someone asked me why i was maintaining an interest in this (other than major area of global current affairs ofc). I think it's the fascination of what trench warfare in a digital age looks like, well captured in the wonderful New Yorker piece with images like the foxhole lit by LEDs, and this week's Economist special report on electronic warfare, with the overall observation that precision cannot substitute for mass, even while it changes the dynamics of the theatre.

It's that grafting of transformative technology onto the mud. Also something like the Prighozin saga, quite irrelevant in many respects, feels like it could have come out of a piece of history from any time since Homer. Seeing it play out in real time has fascination.

It's tragic and ugly and many many people are dying, injured and having their lives bent and twisted out of shape by the violence of the invasion, but there is the grotesque grafting of the future and the past taking place as well.

lmao

Russian security forces leak photos from the personal album of Yevgeny Prigozhin. pic.twitter.com/cM8oeBYJQD

— Clash Report (@clashreport) July 5, 2023

Been spending most my life serving in an Amish mercenary group

interesting

No way: “Prigozhin’s continued presence in Russia was confirmed by a St. Petersburg businessman, who said the Wagner boss had returned home to reclaim money and weapons seized by the Russian security services.”https://t.co/4V3WjlMxrV

— Richard Seymour (@leninology) July 6, 2023

wagner apparently still recruiting in russia too