And just like that —pouf! Over! Via warTranslated-/ Prigozhin says it's over:
"They were going to dismantle PMC Wagner. We came out on 23 June to the March of Justice. In a day, we walked to nearly 200km away from Moscow. In this time, we did not spill a single drop of blood of our fighters. Now, the moment has come when blood may spill. .. ‘ #russia
‘That’s why, understanding the responsibility for spilling Russian blood on one of the sides, we are turning back our convoys and going back to field camps according to the plan."’
Public events in #Moscow canceled til July 1st #Russia according to @CNN
U.S. & Western leaders were ‘caught off-guard’ by the rapid speed of events in Russia
This from Rep Elissa Slotkin: ‘Breathtaking events in Russia, & my team & I have been up most of the night watching history unfold. While we’re still watching events in real time, a few things are clear:
First, Russians fighting Russians on Russian soil, which we haven’t seen since the 1991 coup attempt, is born directly from Russia’s failures in Ukraine. Military forces with clear plans, chain of command, & operational success don’t devolve into violence against themselves. #russia
Rep Slotkin: This would be the equivalent of the U.S. military depending on an armed defense contractor, & that contractor then turning on U.S. leadership & marching to D.C. The weakness of the once-formidable Russian military is stunning.
Rep Slotkin: This isn’t just a problem for Putin inside Russia – it calls into question whether Russia can withstand Ukraine’s summer offensive. Wagner led some of the small military victories in Ukraine, so this is a chance for Ukraine’s forces to further liberate their land – stay tuned.
Rep Slotkin: U.S. posture at this stage should be watching events closely, assisting our Ukrainian allies in exploiting any battlefield opportunities, & staying flexible & alert at an unpredictable moment in history.
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Before entering politics, Elissa Slotkin served as a Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) analyst and Department of Defense official.
Rep Slotkin: Last, while any challenge to Putin’s dictatorship is historic, we should remember: Prigozhin & Wagner are not good guys coming to liberate Russia & make it a blooming democracy. Remember, Prigozhin troll farms & influence operations targeted U.S. elections in 2016.
Via wartranslated:
‘Russian road policeman shows a large number of trucks placed on a highway to Moscow to prevent Wagnerites from reaching it. The block appears just before the crossing over the Oka river, near the town of Lipitsy (see Lipitsy on google maps for understanding).’
‘Kadyrov said that his forces would do everything possible to protect Russia. He called the uprising a rebellion against the state that required everyone to rally around President Putin. In recent years, Kadyrov has developed his own private army believed to be about 20,000 strong and set up a training center for special forces. His loyalist forces have fought some in Ukraine, but have been accused of holding back to preserve themselves.’ #nytimes Neil MacFarquhar #russiahttps://www.nytimes.com/live/2023/06/24/world/russia-ukraine-news/0ad4546e-fba1-5969-80b0-8c6b97acc1d8?smid=url-share
