Good question. I don't know much about Shoigu and he doesn't seem like a particularly outspoken man. The puss on him during that security council meeting on the 22nd or 23rd of Feb, 2022, give the strong impression that he wasn't particularly into what Putin was laying down, but he has remained silent enough and has held onto his position way past the time that many other military commanders have gotten the sack. That makes it seem like he's got some sort of cunning about him. His charisma and general staying power is about to undergo its most serious test, and since it's an ultimatum about his firing that has been delivered, I don't see how he holds onto his job without firing back in some way, be that bureaucratically or via some more forceful means. Potentially less interesting times ahead than the last 24 hours, but interesting times nonetheless.
Putin looked pale and rattled in his address today. He seemed genuinely upset by this Wagner move. I don’t think he will forget it in a hurry.
Yes, if we believe these reports, then Putin has been made to look incredibly weak. This will only embolden others to try again at some point. He is a lame duck now .
Does Shoigu have loyalists in the Russian army that can pull a wagner?
Well, if they shot down a few planes & helos on the way, it's not like it was a peaceful demonstration. I guess Prigozhin got paid to call it off, and was able to make some demands such as "get rid of Shoigu".
I've no idea what his motivations are (other than money/power?).
Wait and see what happens here
@Kermit.de.frog
How could Putin possibly accept a private mercenary group deciding who runs Russia's armed forces?
Putin's Russia is a chronically-corrupt state that cynically allows veritable warlords to run large parts of what comprises Russia's armed forces. How could Putin not allow a private mercenary group decide who runs things, militarily? It's a situation he deliberately engineered without anticipating every consequence.
As the saying goes, he remains a master strategist.
Whatever is coming out of this
Serious stench of death coming off Russia
They look and seem incredibly weakened
Had to laugh at hois reason for stopping the march on Moscow. To avoid bloodshed!
An Al Jazeera commenter indicated that Russian troops won't take this very well and may not be anxious to fight anymore. I wonder are we going to see mass desertions or surrender?
Looks like it is over for the time being.
The road that was blocked with traffic in red on Google maps are gradually turning orange and green again.
Wagner went from a run on the capital and military allowing progress and in some cases joining in to now negotiating a stop and turn around. Not sure how this will be resolved.
His authority Is gone.
Putin fled it seems, couldnt stop mercs taking a city , abandoned by his own FSB and MoD. Putin is done. Figurehead president maybe.
That would be a defeat for Putin and a serious blow to his own authority.
All a bit weird.
Can you imagine someone in US shooting down American helicopters, killing American soldiers, and then Biden ringing him up and saying '' I'm going to give you so so so much money, please stop ''
Russia really is comical
The fact that Wagner got as far as they did so easily, taking out some Russia assets as they rolled shows that they have the southern garrisons on their side. Maybe there'll be a renewed assault on Ukraine, but Wagner complained that they were up against NATO standards unlike what they'd been used to in Africa.
It does feel like an unravelling of power, even if Putin remains in place.
Putin does not run the show anymore. He'll be put on as a face of the company. The FSB and Armed forces abandoned Putin today. There is no way back for them and as a partnership.
The FSB didn't want Wagner to roll into Moscow as it would have made the nation look weak. They also didn't want civil disorder and battle lines in Ukraine to disintegrate.
The FSB still clearly want Crimea and Donbass and they would have lost it all if there were a few days on chaos.
Putin will be moved aside very soon. Maybe even arrested. This will keep relative civil order, instead of the clusterfuck that would have occured tonight. Putin will be put under house arrest and live out his days in the Dacha.
Zelensky's released a statement pointing out how Putin's nowhere to be seen. Compare that to him being on the 'frontline' in Kyiv in the early days when he was supposedly top of a kill list as the 60-mile* Russian convoy advanced on Kyiv.
Hmmmm
Prigozhin has fallen for the banana in the tail pipe it seems
None of this makes sense. Not a single part of it
I'd imagine all rebels will be rounded up in time and disposed of.
Yeah. Looks like two rich scumbags having a disagreement. And Prizoghin will now go back to taking orders from Putin?
How does it go from Putin saying it's treason to now an agreement between both parties
Pergozin is a dead man walking
I don't buy the idea that this was all for show.
Putin looked incredibly vulnerable today and the whole world was watching. Prigozhin was ranting like a Traveller boxer and now he's just taking his foot off the pedal to calm things down? None of it makes sense, it just makes Russia look terribly disorganised and fragile.
With all that's gone on between Progozhin and Putin, any agreement will surely be an uneasy one. What happens when there's another setback in Ukraine? Does Prigozhin race back to Moscow and order Putin to sack more people? This ruins Putin's strongman reputation if he doesn't put Prigozhin in his place.
The fact that this doesn't seem to have been broadcast in Russia is what's interesting to me. Putin wouldn't want Russians to see how he was played by Prigozhin.
All over already?
Some rebellion..
Still time. Ukraine don't have a huge amount of resources to go inflaming a situation which is inflaming perfectly well on its own thank you very much.
I mean despite the chaos its not as if Russia can't see from where attacks come.
I'm sure they'll make strategic hay when the time is right.
...
Yeah, and being Russia, those might be the same soldiers they greeted but with a different uniform they had yesterday.
Shoigu's resignation may not mean as much if it's Putin who'll appoint his successor. He could easily pick someone who's as bad in all the categories that Shoigu is.
With whatever he had 2 days ago. It's not that hard to understand a possible coup and civil war in Russia would have benefitted Ukraine greatly. This morning i was hoping for the Ukrainians to be chasing the Russians to the border as they fled to defend the homeland now they'll have to do it the hard way.
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