Russia & Ukraine

Discussion in 'Politics' started by UsualName, Jan 18, 2022.

  1. exGOPer

    exGOPer

    President of the country giving a TV address whining about coup while your mercenaries take over a city is 'just another normal day in Russia'.

    Says M.W. aka I don't support Russia guy.
     
    #12681     Jun 25, 2023
    Tony Stark, gwb-trading and themickey like this.
  2. SunTrader

    SunTrader

    Pootin taking his turn playing Russian Roulette. One of these days the chamber will be a loaded one. Only a matter of time.

    (Daily Beast)

    Why Did Putin Let Prigozhin Walk Away?

    Allison Quinn
    Sat, June 24, 2023 at 10:26 PM EDT·4 min read


    In this article:
    • [​IMG]
      Vladimir Putin
      President of Russia
    • Yevgeny Prigozhin
      Russian terrorist & war criminal

    [​IMG]
    From video obtained by Reuters

    The same government that has been slaughtering Ukrainian civilians for more than a year because it claims NATO baddies are too close to its borders allowed its own rogue mercenary boss to shoot down military helicopters on Saturday and, according to state media, kill several soldiers before calmly waltzing away to a new life in Belarus.

    The Kremlin even publicly guaranteed that Wagner Group founder Yevgeny Prigozhin had President Vladimir Putin’s “word” he could safely leave the country—after conveniently having criminal charges against him dropped.

    So why is Prigozhin so untouchable? Or is the Kremlin simply biding its time to deal with him in a less public manner?

    It’s hard to imagine the former hot-dog vendor will get off unscathed after humiliating the Russian leader while the whole world watched. The chaotic spectacle of Prigozhin’s armed uprising and the ease with which he and his Wagner mercenaries appeared to take control in Rostov shattered Putin’s carefully cultivated image as a strongman leader. Hours after Putin vowed to take “brutal” measures against the coup organizers, they walked away. And in another blow to Putin, crowds of supportive Rostov residents were filmed cheering on the Wagner fighters and shaking their hands.

    Ukraine Will Be the Big Winner of Prigozhin Turning On Putin

    That may have played a factor in the decision to let the whole thing slide. Prigozhin has amassed considerable support among pro-war hardliners in recent months and has appealed to ordinary Russians by positioning himself as an anti-elitist crusader (spoiler alert: he’s not). His frequent criticisms of the country’s military leadership have also won him praise for his “honesty” among some Russians who previously had no idea who he was.

    An unnamed source close to the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces was quoted telling the independent Russian news outlet iStories on Saturday that Putin had ordered security services to “liquidate” Prigozhin to avoid having to engage in battles in Russian cities.

    “Putin doesn’t need a big shootout, so the main task is to eliminate Prigozhin and tear off the backbone of Wagner, promising amnesty [to Wagner fighters] for this disgrace,” the source said.

    It’s not clear if the security services made any attempt to take out Prigozhin during the brief takeover, but he was ultimately allowed to leave, even happily posing for photos while he departed from Rostov. It may be that Moscow recognized the potential for Prigozhin being turned into a martyr if he were to go out in a blaze of glory in the midst of his rebellion.

    Several Russian officers interviewed anonymously by The Moscow Times also said most troops were simply not willing to go head to head against Wagner fighters to defend cities from a takeover. “The mood is that no one is going to die for Moscow. Everyone understands that this is not about protecting against the enemy, but about dirty internal skirmishes, it makes no sense to die for this,” one officer said.

    Others said they actually supported Prigozhin: “That’s why almost all roads are open for the [Wagner] convoys, for the same reason they managed to take Rostov-on-Don without a single shot in a few hours.”

    [​IMG]
    A fighter of Wagner private mercenary group walks past a tank in a street near a local circus in the city of Rostov-on-Don, Russia.

    Reuters
    But Prigozhin also appears to have some powerful figures invested in him, including Yury Kovalchuk, a close friend of Putin and billionaire considered one of the most influential figures in Russia. The independent outlet Meduza cited a source close to the Kremlin last November who described Prigozhin as a “tool” of Yury Kovalchuk and his brother Mikhail. The Kovalchuk brothers were said to have partnered with Prigozhin on launching a “patriotic” and “anti-elitist” political movement that could eventually grow into a party.

    Prigozhin was also reported to have met with Rosneft CEO Igor Sechin last March, and the Wagner boss is said to have walked away with an agreement for the Putin ally to sponsor some of his projects.

    It’s not clear what exactly he will do in Belarus, or how long he will remain there (if he does, in fact, move there). As of Saturday night, the mercenary boss was mum on social media, and Russian prosecutors had already blocked him on the popular VK networking site.

    Putin, for his part, had apparently retreated to his bunker after the whole dizzying saga, with his spokesman confirming to reporters that the Russian leader had absolutely nothing to say: “No, no. We’ve told you everything that we wanted to and could tell you.”

    Read more at The Daily Beast.
     
    #12682     Jun 25, 2023
  3. Russia nearly fell.
    Gosh, that was close.

    ha ha.
    They suckered you Rubes. Maybe Prigozhin was legit, but most of Wagner had no intention of attacking Russia. He tried to trick his own men into thinking they were defending the Russian border.

    EPIC fail.
    Nice news day, though! Very exciting.
     
    #12683     Jun 25, 2023
  4. M.W.

    M.W.

    You guys are such cry babies. A day ago you declared the war over and Russia dead. Nothing could be further from the truth.

     
    #12684     Jun 25, 2023
  5. exGOPer

    exGOPer

    Thanks Baghdad Bob for another broadcast from the Russian Ministry of Information, tell us more about how normal and great the situation in Russia is. Why did you wait a day to post your review of the situation? You could have kept us updated about the terrific situation in Russia and their leader's anti-woke speech' analysis.

    Typical religious nutjob debating tactic - make a claim, change the topic and when confronted -gaslight with a bunch of strawman arguments.
     
    #12685     Jun 25, 2023
    Cuddles likes this.
  6. M.W.

    M.W.

    What matters is that your yapping about the invasion being over and Russia on its knees was dead wrong. You were incorrect. Wrong. Period.

     
    #12686     Jun 25, 2023
  7. SunTrader

    SunTrader

    "Gosh that was close" Poo didn't dare follow through on arresting, trying and hanging Prego-Man like he was talking about doing.

    Keep your friends close and your enemies even closer. Closer in this case is across the Belarus border. If Prego in fact leaves Russia at all. He was travelling very fast on Saturday. Not so much today, unless news suddenly is travelling in the slow lane???
     
    #12687     Jun 25, 2023
  8. exGOPer

    exGOPer

    What matters is that you lie and lie and lie every opportunity you get.

    I never said the invasion was over, and when you have to sell your only product at 40% discount to keep the government running and have to import ammunition from North Korea, I don't know who would call it a position of strength.

    Also, after pretending to not support Russia, its hilarious that every comment from you on this thread is supporting Russia in one way or another.
     
    #12688     Jun 25, 2023
    Tony Stark likes this.
  9. Bugenhagen

    Bugenhagen

    You should take your HRT dear, you are all bothered.

    It was loudly declared by that hotdog chap the invasion was a big scam by Shoigu as a way to avoid Putin having to admit it was about his ambition and the Nazi stuff all BS bla bla.

    You lose.

    With Russia this unstable all sorts of weird stuff will happen now but Nato had gone from a fairly zombie organisation to a working one that has real focus. If you imagine Russia will become more competent now you are dreaming.
     
    Last edited: Jun 25, 2023
    #12689     Jun 25, 2023
    Tony Stark likes this.
  10. exGOPer

    exGOPer

    These people can't lose an argument, they will ignore, deflect and then straight up manufacture conspiracies when confronted with the truth.
     
    #12690     Jun 25, 2023
    Bugenhagen likes this.