I think it’s safe to say at this point that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s illegal war with Ukraine is not going well. And who could have foreseen that hiring ruthless mercenaries would blow up in your face?
The Wagner Group is a mercenary organization head by Yevgeny Prigozhin (who’s a former hot dog salesman), who until yesterday was a close confidant of Vladimir Putin. Putin has recruited the Wagner Group to do its dirty deeds for years from conflicts in Syria, Lybia, Sudan, the Central African Republic, Mali, Madagascar, Venezuela, Mozambique, Belarus, Burkina Faso, Chad, Serbia, to the disinformation campaign in the 2016 U.S. presidential election that put Donald Trump in the White House.
Putin recruited the group to fight in Ukraine and gave them the independence to do so. The Wagner Group does its own thing without a lot of coordination with the Russian military, and sometimes, they end up shooting at each other. The group’s strength is in its numbers more than its expertise in military affairs as the bulk of its forces are former convicts allowed out of prison on the agreement they fight, and possibly die in Ukraine. Yevgeny Prigozhin himself is a former convict. Now, Wagner is unhappy with the way the war is going and Prigozhin has even declared it’s “illegal.”
Prigozhin claims his forces have taken military facilities in two Russian cities and they were on the highway approaching Moscow. Putin has called this an “armed rebellion.” Now it appears that Prigozhin has agreed to stop his march to Moscow after holding discussions with Putin’s buddy President Aleksandr Lukashenko of Belarus.
The best thing that can come out of this is that Russia loses its focus on the war in Ukraine and abandons the conflict to build security within its own borders. Who knows what the worst possible outcome is. Let’s get a few things straight.
The Wagner Group did not wake up Friday morning feeling enlightenment. If they are attempting a coup, it’s not in the name of democracy. “Dirty deeds done dirt cheap” could be the Wagner Group’s motto as they’ve murdered journalists in the past. Yevgeny Prigozhin hasn’t really made clear what his goals are. Has anybody asked?
I saw a discussion online between two of my colleagues this morning and their first thoughts were on Donald Trump and how this affects him as he’s always been a fan of Putin. If your first thoughts concerning this are on Donald Trump, then maybe you do have TDS, Trump Derangement Syndrome. This doesn’t affect Donald Trump. Again, the Wagner Group helped Donald Trump become president (sic). This event could possibly give Trump even more allies in the Kremlin.
And if the Wagner Group takes the Kremlin, what will they do with it? This isn’t the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991. Yevgeny Prigozhin is no Boris Yeltsin. For all we know, Prigozhin doesn’t have political skills and him toppling the Kremlin could inflame even further violence. Who knows what kind of monster could be leading Russia when all this is over.
I’m not worried about how this affects Donald Trump. I’m more worried about how this affects democracy and freedom throughout the world. The fall of Putin would be a good thing, but Putin being replaced by an even worse thug is not something for us to celebrate.
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CLAYTOONZ 
PUtin and Trump, two hands on the same stomach, are as dangerous for democracy as the warmonger Yevgeny Prigozhin, who was able to bring fear over his own troops, but shall not be able to run a country.
This time, this man will be able to be exposed quickly without the army fully behind him to pick up the protesters on the street.
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This is a Ruse – news of wagner being pulled off the line to attempt a coup, sounds like a gop plan, both didn’t work as the entire group are twice walking dead. When typing this, Prigozhin has changed course and pulling back, so no more excitement in russia, ohh well back to drinking and hoping the midget gets what due to him.
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This “Civil War” in Russia is what Putin and Trump tried to do here Jan. 6th, 2021.
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Well thought out blog post. Thanks. The stacking dolls Oh so adorable. Russia as a socio political entity has never been so dangerous to world security in my thinking. The world economy could offer a deal…leave Ukraine, hold a fair election with international oversight and economic assistance will resume. Of course Putin would not take it. But the population might be very interested and over rule him. Okay you might disagree but some action to open up the situation needs to happen. Russia taking action in behalf of itself will not work. And it’s back to the adorable stacking dolls. Much appreciated.
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More unanswered questions tonight than there are answers, but everyone seems to have their own theory. One of my blogging friends theorizes that the U.S. and UK jointly paid Prigozhim to attempt a coup. I’m sitting back waiting for the truth to come out … not that I think we’ll ever know the whole truth.
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All the, mercenaries only cared about, money, yhey have, no loyalties toward, any side, all they care, is, who pays them, that would be, how and why, Putin’s, hiring the armed service members had, backfired.
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Reblogged this on It Is What It Is and commented:
… and then a deal was struck!! … “The Wagner Group is a mercenary organization head by Yevgeny Prigozhin (who’s a former hot dog salesman), who until yesterday was a close confidant of Vladimir Putin. Putin has recruited the Wagner Group to do its dirty deeds for years from conflicts in Syria, Lybia, Sudan, the Central African Republic, Mali, Madagascar, Venezuela, Mozambique, Belarus, Burkina Faso, Chad, Serbia, to the disinformation campaign in the 2016 U.S. presidential election that put Donald Trump in the White House.:
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