I think it's a pity that Prigozhin turned around so quickly without following through. It makes the whole affair suspicious, though it remains a patent demonstration of disunity within the rf. From the Ukrainian point of view (speaking for myself & friends) it certainly brought a brief respite to see russians engaged in attacking one another. Watching the response of Westerners in twitter & the media I see how eager people outside the war zone are to be spectators following an intriguing situation. While russia's war on Ukraine demands courage and participation if the Western world still believes in its principles. Whatever just happened in russia is murky as all hell, and that leaves lots of room for sporting speculation from a distance. That murkiness lacks the energy, conviction and commitment to win a war, which is encouraging. But we in Ukraine can't stop fighting until we get every piece of the russian military machine out of our country; while we welcome every growing weakness in the rf, there's nothing to celebrate yet. And I don't think it's worth getting distracted by anticipation of russia's self-combustion.
Larissa, the way it ended with everyone apparently agreeing to turn around and no one getting punished made we wonder if the whole episode was staged. The conclusion seemed too clean and tidy for this to have been a serious coup attempt and the beginning of a civil war.
The calm non-response from Ukraine and the West made me wonder if they also knew this wasn't a serious revolt.
It is likely too soon to understand what was happening over the weekend. In the next few days will Prigozhin show up in photos smiling and shaking hands with Putin, or will he be found dead somewhere?
I also realize most of the information I have is filtered through the Western press. Which is why I highly value your reports directly from inside Ukraine.
I think the majority of Americans don't understand why Ukraine's victory against the Russian invasion is so critical. They kind of like the image of a scrappy underdog defeating a Goliath Russia, but don't have any sense of history, or what is at stake if Russia succeeds.
We had our own coup attempt in the United States on January 6, 2021. The threat to democracy from the authoritarian elements within the Republican party is real and continuing. Most of my political energy is focused on defeating those elements at the ballot box in my very small, local sphere.
Thank you for this reporting on the situation following the destruction of the dam.
What are your thoughts on the events over the last few days with Prigozhin and the Wagner group?
I think it's a pity that Prigozhin turned around so quickly without following through. It makes the whole affair suspicious, though it remains a patent demonstration of disunity within the rf. From the Ukrainian point of view (speaking for myself & friends) it certainly brought a brief respite to see russians engaged in attacking one another. Watching the response of Westerners in twitter & the media I see how eager people outside the war zone are to be spectators following an intriguing situation. While russia's war on Ukraine demands courage and participation if the Western world still believes in its principles. Whatever just happened in russia is murky as all hell, and that leaves lots of room for sporting speculation from a distance. That murkiness lacks the energy, conviction and commitment to win a war, which is encouraging. But we in Ukraine can't stop fighting until we get every piece of the russian military machine out of our country; while we welcome every growing weakness in the rf, there's nothing to celebrate yet. And I don't think it's worth getting distracted by anticipation of russia's self-combustion.
Agreed.
from: Ukraine Front Lines @EuromaidanPR
General Zaluzhnyi commented this PERFORMANCE with #Prigozhin the best of all:
"I'm not interested in these political games. I'm more concerned about why we shot down ONLY 41 missiles out of 50 last night. We need air defense".
Curt, what do You think about Prigozhin's aborted coup in russia?
Larissa, the way it ended with everyone apparently agreeing to turn around and no one getting punished made we wonder if the whole episode was staged. The conclusion seemed too clean and tidy for this to have been a serious coup attempt and the beginning of a civil war.
The calm non-response from Ukraine and the West made me wonder if they also knew this wasn't a serious revolt.
It is likely too soon to understand what was happening over the weekend. In the next few days will Prigozhin show up in photos smiling and shaking hands with Putin, or will he be found dead somewhere?
I also realize most of the information I have is filtered through the Western press. Which is why I highly value your reports directly from inside Ukraine.
I think the majority of Americans don't understand why Ukraine's victory against the Russian invasion is so critical. They kind of like the image of a scrappy underdog defeating a Goliath Russia, but don't have any sense of history, or what is at stake if Russia succeeds.
We had our own coup attempt in the United States on January 6, 2021. The threat to democracy from the authoritarian elements within the Republican party is real and continuing. Most of my political energy is focused on defeating those elements at the ballot box in my very small, local sphere.
Here's an interesting conversation recorded very early -- on Saturday night: https://claireberlinski.substack.com/p/what-the-hell-was-that#details