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How Hot is Ukraine Gonna Get?


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Just now, billbindc said:

I do agree that there will be negotiations...there probably already are conversations happening. But Putin's continued absence has me wondering what's going on with him. He may simply not have the ability to make a deal that other factions would accept.

I'll repeat myself, but my bet is that he had a stroke or something, and the unfolding mess is Death Of Stalin 2.0.

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6 minutes ago, billbindc said:

I do agree that there will be negotiations...there probably already are conversations happening. But Putin's continued absence has me wondering what's going on with him. He may simply not have the ability to make a deal that other factions would accept.

He may also refrain from public not to let himself being connected to it and humiliated by some lowlife ex-prisoner...let the other do the dirty job. I try to remind  myself of any situation of such blatant disobedience from his close circle, but frankly cannot find any...totally unusual situation for him. Like when his tanks started to burn by hundreds in III.2022. Hell, probably even more serious...

Hard to tell how it will end, but I imagine formal audience of main malkontents with Tsar one day is not out of question now. He will need to swallow bitter pill, just like he did with millbloggers, even this stinking WarGonzo.

Edited by Beleg85
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Let's assess where things are at.  What do we know for sure?

  1. Prig and some portion of Wagner have at least revolted/mutinied, but it could be a coordinated coup attempt.  We do NOT know which.  I'll get into the nuances below.
  2. It seems local military and security forces have not opposed Wagner in any coordinated way.
  3. Based on some of the equipment shown in the downtown area, either some non-Wagner forces have joined up or at least surrendered to some extent.  Prig has said as much, but now we've seen some evidence.
  4. If the T-72s seen in the downtown were brought by Wagner, then they were planning this move.  Especially because I'm not sure they have transporters and they might have had to "appropriate" them
  5. There is air activity in the area and may be possible that a helicopter was shot down.  The one video we have sure does sound like a MANPAD launch at a helicopter.
  6. Prig is openly stating that his men are not interested in shooting at conscripts.  There's a number of reasons he has to say this, but one is certainly to position himself as a savoir.  More on that below as well.
  7. Putin has not responded decisively in any way, though the MoD has made certain public statements that they are dealing with the situation.
  8. There is some evidence of clashes in Rostov and perhaps also in Bakhmut area.
  9. Prig has operations in something like 29 different cities.  If this is a coordinated and preplanned operation, expect more hot spots to show up.

Some analysis.

Whether this is a mutiny or a coup doesn't matter at this point because if it was only a mutiny it will transform into a coup.  Why?  There's nobody that will believe in "amnesty" if they stand down.  This is Russia and Prig and his men know that either they take power or they will be imprisoned or killed.  They can't do a "protest" on this scale without that sort of punishment being handed out if they don't succeed.

Prig has been at least conceptualizing something like this for months.  Do not assume that plan is for him to take over everything on his own from Rostov.  It could be he's happy to be in charge of a Russian MoD v2.0 and leave governing to his politically connected backers.  He could effectively rule from the backroom if he wanted to.  My point is that anybody that thinks this is just Prig and/or only about Prig is likely to be proven wrong.

The Russian government response to this move is as inept as everything else they do.  It seems that either the FSB was caught napping, was somehow complicit, or misjudged when Prig would leap forward... I don't know.  I lean towards at least some FSB collaboration.

The FSB is better informed about how bad things are within the Russian Federation than anybody else.  They have so many informants and they also have a few buildings worth of kompromat to use as needed.  The FSB very well could have assessed the situation and determined that sooner, rather than later, something was going to blow up the regime.  Better to be a part of changing the regime rather than being the one changed.

However, the FSB most likely has some benchmarks they are looking for before they reveal themselves duplicitous.  If Prig's actions get squashed by the MoD (remember Rosgvardiya is under the MoD) then the FSB switches sides back to the regime and continues on.  The 1991 and 1993 actions are not something these guys have likely forgotten.

What we need to watch for are:

  1. signs that the security apparatus is not doing the regime's bidding
  2. how Kadyrov reacts to all of this
  3. what the regional governors do as things unfold

I highly doubt Kadyrov is going to get deep in the middle of this at first, not unless he has a very clear understanding of what is happening.  He could be in the know and the fighting between he and Prig all theater.  Or he could sense the change in the air and throw his lot in with the coup plotters.  Kadyrov's forces are in Belgorod.  Imagine regime forces trying to squash two separate rebellions in two different places, especially if Kadyrov isolates Belgorod city.  Then Russia has lost BOTH of its military hubs.  That's an integrating thought ;)

Steve

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Anti-Kremlin tycoon urges Russians to back Wagner boss
Anti-Kremlin figure Mikhail Khodorkovsky has urged Russians to support Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin who, as we've been reporting, has vowed to bring down Moscow's military leadership.

Khodorkovsky, who was once Russia’s richest oligarch, said: "We need to help now, and then, if necessary, we will fight this one, too."

After falling out with Vladimir Putin, he spent 10 years in a Russian prison and recently called for tougher sanctions against the Russian president.

Khodorkovsky said it was important to back "even the devil" if he decided to take on the Kremlin.

Does this guy live in Russia? 10 years in jail, love to meet his accountants. 

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21 minutes ago, Beleg85 said:

He may also refrain from public not to let himself being connected to it and humiliated by some lowlife ex-prisoner...let the other do the dirty job. I try to remind  myself of any situation of such blatant disobedience from his close circle, but frankly cannot find any...totally unusual situation for him. Like when his tanks started to burn by hundreds in III.2022. Hell, probably even more serious...

Hard to tell how it will end, but I imagine formal audience of main malkontents with Tsar one day is not out of question now. He will need to swallow bitter pill, just like he did with millbloggers, even this stinking WarGonzo.

Whether this started out as a coup or not is irrelevant.  It is a coup now.  The only negotiations I think going on right now are the different factions aligning themselves with one side or another.  For all we know there could be more than 2 sides.  FSB could try and take advantage of Prig's drama in Rostov and do something on their own in Moscow.

Putin is not necessarily done yet (unless he did have a stroke or something), but I believe he can NOT bounce back from this.  He's done no matter what happens next.

Steve

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1 minute ago, kevinkin said:

Is his main audience the other oligarchs and well off Russians in general. I would think so. 

Fascinating question, did he sign up with Prig in the last 24 hours, or 15 months ago? This feels like a deeply planned operation. Moving even five thousand troops hundreds of mile and taking over a major city by coup de main is not something you do on a weekend bender.

 

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More possibly related videos:

1.  Big fire in Moscow.  Related to what is going on?  Entirely possible, though not necessarily directly connected to Wagner.  Could be partisans thought this would be a good time to strike:

https://www.reddit.com/r/UkraineWarRoom/comments/14hecqw/military_base_on_fire_near_moscow/

 

2.  RUMINT that there's fighting near Moscow:

https://www.reddit.com/r/UkraineWarRoom/comments/14heet2/clashes_between_wagner_pmc_and_russian_national/

 

3.  More tanks being moved somewhere by someone.  No details with the video other than supposedly it is Wagner, but I'm guessing MoD:

https://www.reddit.com/r/UkraineWarRoom/comments/14hfjur/reportedly_a_wagner_convoy/

Another bit of armor (BMP-3) being moved by commercial transport.  My guess is these are MoD:

https://www.reddit.com/r/UkraineWarRoom/comments/14hfo62/another_wagner_convoy/

 

4.  More videos of military vehicles in Moscow, almost certainly MoD:

https://www.reddit.com/r/UkraineWarRoom/comments/14hehxp/ruzzian_present_to_wagner_some_vehicles_with/

https://www.reddit.com/r/UkraineWarRoom/comments/14hcoi4/military_convoy_has_been_spotted_in_moscow_russia/

https://www.reddit.com/r/UkraineWarRoom/comments/14hco3z/security_forces_on_moscow_streets/

 

Steve

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47 minutes ago, Huba said:

I'll repeat myself, but my bet is that he had a stroke or something, and the unfolding mess is Death Of Stalin 2.0.

It's after 7am in Moscow. If we don't have a statement by the time I wake up in 8 hours or so, I'm with you on this.

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