Putin will hunt him down and have him executed.

Any of the western countries that wouldn't turn him over to Putin would likely try him for war crimes.
I'm beginning to think he didn't put much thought into this.

quote:

Originally posted by 220-9er:
Any of the western countries that wouldn't turn him over to Putin would likely try him for war crimes.
I'm beginning to think he didn't put much thought into this.

Better yet, they'd turn him over to Ukraine, whose justice would be far more efficient than the softie western countries.

One of the talking heads on CNN who is retired CIA said that it's pretty simple what happened. Prigozhin was born in St Petersberg and has family there. Prigozhin forgot that Putin is just as much of a thug as he is. When all of this started Putin would have rounded up a few of Prigozhin's relatives, then advised Prigozhin that his relatives can expect a bullet in the head or at least a life sentence in a gulag unless he called the whole thing off. That was enough to persuade Prigozhin to change his mind.

US to delay Wagner sanctions for fear of siding with Putin: WSJ

https://english.almayadeen.net...f-siding-with-putin:

The US is reportedly planning to delay new sanctions on the Wagner group after its leader Yevgeni Prigozhin announced on his Telegram channel storming the Rostov region and taking over the military headquarters in response to what he claims was a Russian attack on his troops earlier under the orders of the Defense Ministry.

According to individuals close to the matter, the US is wary of appearing to be on the Russian President's side, The Wall Street Journal reported.

“Washington does not want to appear to be taking sides in this,” WSJ cited a close source as saying.

According to these sources, the State Department was expected to disclose additional sanctions on Wagner's gold business in Africa on Tuesday, including an alleged mining operation set up by the firm in the Central African Republic.

Washington had previously sanctioned the group for its alleged role in misinformation efforts, particularly during the 2016 US presidential election, which was never proven, as well as its involvement in the Ukrainian war, but the Biden administration planned to tighten the screws on its international commercial empire.

Cameron Hudson, a former chief of staff to the US special envoy for Sudan, stated that Washington had a strategy to "target, isolate, and weaken Wagner's growth in Africa," adding that by maintaining that approach, Washington is now potentially assisting Putin.

The Russian Foreign Ministry released a statement on Saturday as a warning to the West against any attempts to use the ongoing armed mutiny situation in Russia for their own purposes.

The Ministry stressed that Russian society has rejected the armed mutiny with "the adventurist efforts of the conspirators essentially aimed at destabilizing the situation in Russia, undermining its unity and efforts to ensure international security."

The Foreign Ministry continued to express confidence that a resolution is near, maintaining that the objectives of the military operation in Ukraine will not be affected and will be achieved.

With the very real damage this caused, I suspect the whole "it was a maskirovka for Wagner to go to Belarus and attack Ukraine from there" whisper is just coping by those who desperately want to see some sense in this. First of all, AFAIK only Prigozhin himself will be exiled (though he will doubtlessly take a trusted security detail with him) while the troops who participated will receive a pardon. Also, the mercs shot down half a dozen helicopters and an airborne command post, probably killing all crew; which is why "we came to an agreement to avoid bloodshed" rings a bit hollow.

Plus in a true Hollywood moment, a stray MANPADS aimed at another helicopter seems to have blown up a fuel depot tank. Even worse, among the helicopters were three of a rare electronic warfare variant of which Russia had only 14 or so before the war, and they already lost two over their own territory to a Ukrainian SAM trap recently. Those and the communications plane were apparently engaged by nervous mercenary troops when the aircraft were trying to leave an airbase they were passing, after their column had earlier been attacked by gunships as they were crossing from Ukraine into Russia. But even if the shootdowns were accidental, the original attacks seem not.

I keep trying to apply some political sense to this myself, figuring out whether this was done by the "why not nuke the Ukrainians" Prigozhin of last year, or this year's "all reasons for the war were a sham" Prigozhin. But in the end, it was probably just the "I'm about to get arrested for refusing to put my baby under control of the inept defense ministry" Prigozhin. I also can't see any "party" in Russia profiting from this mess. It just lays bare the divisions and disunity, weakening both Putin and the "wage a better war" camp.

So Lukashenko knows that there are Belarusians fighting in Ukraine for Ukraine. He also knows that his support of his own military is tepid at best.

Prigozhin can’t go back to Russia and would be tried as a war criminal is he were to try to flee to the West, or if Lukashenko is overthrown.

Meanwhile, Putin has no choice but to continue to send weapons to Lukashenko.

So, Lukashenko now has nuclear weapons, the head of the largest Private Military Contractor in the world as his bitchboy, and sits right in between Russia and NATO.

Makes me wonder who the 7D chess player really is in all this.

This seems more and more like theatre to me. Remember that Wagner is filled with hardened criminals that were promised amnesty after 6 months of combat survival. Making them sign military contracts is a good way to keep them from going back to where they’re from and engaging in whatever behavior sent them to prison in the first place.

The only thing I know for certain out of all of this is that I now have a splitting headache.

If there were some type of peace process in place, this might be a good time to float the idea of a ceasefire. Of course, we will take the opposite approach.

Trump seems to think China is the biggest winner emerging from the shit show we watched yesterday. Damn, 2024 cannot come fast enough for me. We need some brains back in the White House.

Trump takes to Truth social with his stance on the latest Russia updates

Former President Donald Trump has weighed in on the situation happening in Russia, describing the latest updates on his social media platform on Saturday as: "a big mess."

The Russian military was briefly thrown into disarray after Yevgeny Prigozhin, the leader of a private mercenary group, rebelled against Russia President Vladmir Putin on Friday, before Prigozhin announced a halt to the apparent mutiny. The brief rebellion would have been possibly the greatest challenge to Putin’s leadership in Russia in over two decades.

"A big mess in Russia, but be careful what you wish for," Trump wrote on Truth Social. "Next in may be far worse!"

The former president also wrote that President Joe Biden will address the situation of Russia in whatever way "President Xi of China wants him to do." Trump claimed that Biden and the president's son, Hunter Biden, "illegally took large amounts of money" from both Russia and China, as reporters have recently been asking the White House about a WhatsApp message Hunter Biden reportedly sent in 2017 to Henry Zhao, the group chairman of China’s Harvest Fund Management; the message Hunter Biden sent mentions his father in connection to a six-figure business deal.

Trump continued to claim that China is currently "the bigger threat," and wants to purchase "large portions of largely unpopulated Russian land." Trump went on to describe the potential infighting in Russia as an "unthinkable opportunity" for China.

"This is China’s heretofore unthinkable opportunity, much bigger than Taiwan, which to President Xi, can wait!" Trump wrote.

Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko, a Putin client, has taken credit for the apparent breakthrough of the potential rebellion, as the Belarusian regime announced that he had spoken to Putin and Prigozhin and secured "an absolutely profitable" deal to end the crisis.

“Negotiations continued throughout the day. As a result, they came to agreements on the inadmissibility of unleashing a bloody massacre on the territory of Russia,” Lukashenko’s press service announced, per a Ukrainian Pravda translation. “At the moment, there is an absolutely profitable and acceptable option on the table for resolving the situation, with security guarantees for Wagner PMC fighters."

Christopher Steele; Where have I heard that name?

quote:

Originally posted by wcb6092:
Christopher Steele; Where have I heard that name?

Wow, thank Gawd someone with credibility finally speaks up I watch a bit of Sky News on YouTube and I don't think I've ever seen them use a less reliable source for an interview. Maybe I just don't watch enough?

Take a listen to what he says starting at the three minute mark. I can see the leftsts trying to make such a claim. I'll wager that's exactly what they woud have done had Putin been ousted. They've pulled the same kind of shit several times.

Zelensky prepares ground to delay presidential election

https://newsrescue.com/zelensk...esidential-election/

Ukraine will be unable to hold elections as long as martial law is in place, President Vladimir Zelensky told British national television BCC on Friday. His original five-year tenure will end in May 2024.

“According to the law, elections must take place during a period of peace, when there is no fighting,” Zelensky told the BBC when asked if a presidential election will take place next year.

Ukrainian legislation requires a parliamentary election by October 29 of this year. According to Rodion Miroshnik, former ambassador of the Lugansk People’s Republic in Moscow, in order for the 60-day campaign to begin on August 28, Kiev would need to lift martial law. Miroshnik told TASS that presidential elections will have to take place by March 2024.

Zelensky declared martial law on February 24, 2022, and has continued to expand it ever since. The most recent 90-day extension was announced this year on May 20 and is set to expire on August 18.

While conceding that elections were not permitted while the country was under martial law, the president of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) urged Ukraine in May to “start preparing for [a vote] as soon as possible.”

“Although democracy is far more than just elections, I think we can all agree that democracy cannot function properly without elections,” Martinus Josephus Maria ‘Tiny’ Kox told Ukrainian activist Olga Aivazovska on May 17.

The head of Ukraine’s National Security and Defence Council, Aleksey Danilov, answered by stressing that “there can be no elections” as long as martial law is in existence.

Zelensky has banned a dozen political groups under a law passed in May 2022 for allegedly questioning his official viewpoint on the war with Russia. The main parliamentary opposition bloc, Opposition Platform – For Life, was outlawed in June, while former president Viktor Yanukovich’s Party of Regions was banned in February.

So, they can't vote themselves out of this? Coming soon to U.S. ?

That's not without precedent, during wartime. The British suspended elections during both WW1 and WW2, for example. The US did not, mostly because there's no mechanism to do so under US laws and the Constitution, as well as because the US home front was not under direct threat during the World Wars, unlike Britain then or Ukraine now.

Wagner chief Prigozhin is warned 'be very careful around open windows' and Russia's convict soldiers call him a 'coward' for 'betraying' them as Putin's defence minister is seen for first time since coup in sign Putin WON'T axe him

Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin has been warned to be 'very careful around open windows' after striking an amnesty deal with the Kremlin following his mercenary group's attempted mutiny over the weekend.

Following clashes with Russia's regular forces en route to Moscow, Prigozhin abruptly halted his troop's 'march for justice' on Saturday after striking a bargain that he said would prevent bloodshed and a possible civil war in Russia.

Under terms of the agreement - which ended the biggest challenge to president Vladimir Putin's 20-year rule - Prigozhin will go into exile in Belarus and will not face prosecution, but will no longer lead the powerful Wagner group.

However, despite the deal, Russia's Kommersant newspaper and three main news agencies reported on Monday that the case against Prigozhin remains open and is still being investigated. He could face between 12 and 20 years in prison.

What's more, despite the agreement, a former CIA director on Sunday warned the warlord to 'be very careful around open windows.' Speaking on CNN's 'State of the Union,' retired US General David Petraeus seemingly was referencing the number of prominent Russians who have died in unclear circumstances, including in falls from windows, since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

'Prigozhin kept his life, but lost his Wagner Group,' Petraeus said. 'And he should be very careful around open windows in his new surroundings in Belarus'.

Meanwhile, as Prigozhin was hailed as a hero by some of his supporters, members of Russia's convict army issued a threat against the Wagner warlord accusing him of a betrayal after he abandoned his coup against the Kremlin.

And on Monday morning footage was broadcast on Russian state TV showing Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu inspected Russian troops - his first public appearance since the failed mutiny plunged the country into chaos.

Shoigu's emergence appeared to be a message from Putin to Prigozhin, signalling the embattled Russian despot would not axe his defence minister from his post despite a demand from the Wagner boss to do so.

Link

July 11. That is when it is scheduled to start per Victoria Nuland

Supposedly

Prigozhin may have touched down in Minsk, or maybe not. Official proceedings against him reportedly abated.

I was half-expecting a night of the long knives as the other shoe to drop after Putin's "everyone I called a traitor this morning can just go home or join Prigozhin in Belarus, great display of national unity by society not getting involved other than taking selfies with Wagner tanks" speech last night, but seems not. Downright stereotypical confronted bully act.

Here every old and new peacenik was fretting "Putin is a steely-eyed nuclear-armed madman, you don't want to back him into a corner by supporting Ukraine (like fighting an aggressor on your own territory is "backing him into a corner"), who knows what he might do?" Well, now we know: Take a plane out of town, let some crony strike a deal on his behalf, and hand out pardons like blowjobs from a crack whore.