https://www.npr.org/2023/08/23/1195466126/russia-wagner-prigozhin-crash What an unfortunate "accident".
Ready for a fun one? What if they planned it all along, and the coup was an Erdogan-style false flag operation meant to draw out those willing to conspire with Prigozhin so that they could be eliminated, and Priggy himself isn't really dead, but is holed up in a dacha somewhere so that his supposed deplaneistration serves as a warning to others?
Nope. I think it was the Secret Service of the Ukraine to cause some confusion and fear among the Russian Elite.
Interestingly, I saw unofficial reporting of a helicopter defecting to Ukraine only shortly before (a few hours before) the Prigozhin crash was reported... Supposedly, it "mysteriously" somehow "lost navigation" but managed to make it 300km inside of Ukraine and land in a Ukrainian airport. By complete accident. Sure. If the helicopter thing is true, I can see them either actually shooting down Prigozhin or staging his death as a warning for other pilots to not defect. Add another pin to the conspiracy board.
When you hear stories of Russians "running out of gas" and asking a Ukranian checkpoint for more, people laugh. But for those soldiers I think being laughed at for 5 minutes is worth it if you get out of participating in an illegal invasion.
Putin sends condolences to family after Prigozhin 'death' in plane crash https://news.sky.com/story/putin-sends-condolences-to-family-after-prigozhin-death-in-plane-crash-12946736
Ah. The universe has returned to normal. My brain twisted itself into painful knots trying to grasp the notion that Putin the Thug would actually negotiate with a dangerous rival who rebelled against him. That's not the KGB Way. Now I see that it was no such thing.
Almost everyone has a camera our days, still the footage of falling plane can be from someone who expected this to occur. Wagner forces threatened to retaliate against Russian authorities. The fighters were said to be furious and "cursing" Putin and released chilling videos threatening revenge — and a new “March of Justice” on Moscow. As to what happened, many expected this to happen, it wasn't a question of if, but when, and asked what is taking that long.
By all means, march on Moscow - in the event of open hostilities, all casualties on both sides will just make work for the Armed Forces of Ukraine easier. So, yeah, rooting for both teams here. Reports say that Prigozhin's top deputy Dmitry "Wagner" Utkin, a Neo-Nazi, was on the plane also. Good news. Happy Ukrainian National Flag Day!
Indeed. Henry Kissinger famously said “it's a pity both sides can't lose” regarding the Iran-Iraq war in the '80s, but the reality is that in many such conflicts both sides really do lose in any meaningful sense, and it would be very good for Ukraine for this to be one of them.
