The Thing that Happened

1945 asked me to contribute in the midst of the crisis and of course it was obsolete by the time it posted, but enjoy nevertheless:

For the first time, Vladimir Putin’s grip on the war effort looks shaky. The decision to elevate Prigozhin was made out of desperation and frustration, with Russian forces either bogged down or in retreat across Ukraine. It was effectively a vote of no confidence in the Russian military establishment, the very people that Putin will now depend upon to keep him in power. 

I haven’t tracked any of the Usual Tankie Suspects on this, but it’s hard for me to see how you paint this sequence in a positive light for Russia. One of Putin’s warlords decided to march on Moscow and remains very much alive, if in exile. BTW, if I were Prigozhin I would have taken my permanent vacation in China rather than in Belarus, because I suspect that the Russian security services will be more reluctant to operate in the former than in the latter. Beyond that I’m not sure what there is to say; there are some interesting podcasts that I haven’t quite managed to devour yet and I’m sure that much more ink will be spilled in the next few days…