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Why average Russians did not rush to streets to defend Putin. But some rallied for Wagner troops
CBC News ^ | Jun 27, 2023 | Briar Stewart

Posted on 06/27/2023 7:56:31 AM PDT by jerod

By political or other means, a transition could be coming

When Russian President Vladimir Putin gave a short address to the nation Monday night, his first remarks since a negotiated end to the weekend's violent rebellion, he was visibly angry as he spoke of national betrayal.

While he didn't mention Yevgeny Prigozhin by name, his target was clear. So is the narrative that is being pushed by the government and the popular television channels under its control.

Their message is that Putin needed to strike a deal with Prigozhin to avoid more bloodshed, and that the decision to negotiate with a man he labelled a traitor was made by a pragmatic leader, not a threatened one.

In a country that reveres its military, the fighters are seen as national heroes by a large part of the population.

"They are elite troops. So being too harsh on Prigozhin might not be in Russia's interest," said Anna Matveeva, a senior visiting research fellow with King's College London.

In Putin's speech, he praised Russian citizens for their patriotism and civic solidarity, but over the weekend as a Wagner convoy travelled hundreds of kilometres toward Moscow, shooting down Russian aircraft on the way, there was no strong show of support for the president on the street.

Instead, crowds gathered around the Wagner fighters in the southwest city of Rostov-on-Don, giving them food and water and cheering them on as they left...

(Excerpt) Read more at cbc.ca ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events; Your Opinion/Questions
KEYWORDS: briarstewart
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1 posted on 06/27/2023 7:56:31 AM PDT by jerod
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To: jerod

Because average Russians don’t own guns, so what are they going to do to stop the Wagner Group’s tanks?


2 posted on 06/27/2023 7:58:11 AM PDT by Yo-Yo (Is the /Sarc tag really necessary? Pray for President Biden: Psalm 109:8)
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To: Yo-Yo

That’s why they gave them food and cheered them on... Because they love Putin.


3 posted on 06/27/2023 8:00:12 AM PDT by jerod (Nazi's were essentially Socialist in Hugo Boss uniforms... Get over it!)
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To: All

Pssssst!

Donate to FR!


4 posted on 06/27/2023 8:01:42 AM PDT by Brad’s Gramma (I can do ALL things through Christ Who strengthens me!!)
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To: jerod
That’s why they gave them food and cheered them on... Because they love Putin.

I don't support Putin, and I don't support Prigozhin. But just like here in the U.S. where we're split roughly 50/50 for supporting either Trump or Biden, I wouldn't be surprised that the Russians are also split in their preferences. The ones who support Prigozhin gave them food and cheered, while the ones who support Putin stayed indoors.

How are you going to know how many of each there are in Russia?

5 posted on 06/27/2023 8:04:10 AM PDT by Yo-Yo (Is the /Sarc tag really necessary? Pray for President Biden: Psalm 109:8)
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To: jerod

I’ll go with Orban’s take on this. You should pay attention to this guy, he doesn’t traffic in Western or Russian disinfo.

“I don’t see much significance in this event,” Orbán said, answering questions about his thoughts on the march of Yevgeny Prigozhin’s Wagner fighters to Moscow.

He noted that the Hungarian special services had information about what was happening in Russia, and according to them, “it is not important”.

Orbán has clarified that he does not consider President Putin to be weakened after the events of this weekend.

“If this could happen, it’s a clear sign of weakness. But if it happened in 24 hours, it’s a sign of strength... You know, Putin is the president of Russia. So if anyone suggests that he might fail or that he might be replaced, then he does not understand the Russian people and Russian power structures,” Orbán said.

He added that in Russia, everything functions differently than in European countries. According to the Hungarian Prime Minister, Putin will remain president in 2024.

“Russia does not work the way we do. The structures in Russia are very stable. They are based on the army, special services, and police, so it is a different country, it is a military-oriented country,” the head of the Hungarian government said.

“I think that everything is over, and the war continues. This is not an event that will lead us to peace, because I always look at this war from the point of view of peace, because I think that the most important thing is to achieve a cease-fire and somehow to agree to peace. This event will not play any role in that,” Orbán said.


6 posted on 06/27/2023 8:07:40 AM PDT by hardspunned (Former DC GOP globalist stooge)
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To: jerod

Most Russians don’t believe what anyone really says. So when the story of the potential coup started up...I would imagine that 75-percent just laughed and said ‘sure’. At the most....they probably picked up some vodka and celebrated.


7 posted on 06/27/2023 8:11:38 AM PDT by pepsionice
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To: Yo-Yo

Putin’s support was flimsy before this incident... Now it’s deteriorating by the minutes and hours.

He’s misled Russia into a costly war and the longer it drags on the more likely it is that his replacement will be selected sooner, rather than later... And his replacement won’t be in favor of an endless war to achieve nothing of any consequence. It’s pretty clear that tens of thousands of Russian’s have now perished for absolutely nothing.

Over 9 years the Russian’s lost 14,000+ soldiers in Afghanistan... Over the past year they have lost tens of thousands. That will not be tolerated for much longer.


8 posted on 06/27/2023 8:16:13 AM PDT by jerod (Nazi's were essentially Socialist in Hugo Boss uniforms... Get over it!)
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To: jerod

CBC is the Canadian owned government media. Thus, it will reflect the NATO spin on this failed coup, or perhaps Russian theater. It is no more trustworthy than the British press, which is controlled by MI-6, or the American mainstream media.


9 posted on 06/27/2023 8:17:45 AM PDT by Wallace T.
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To: jerod

Oh, brother. Propaganda time.


10 posted on 06/27/2023 8:22:46 AM PDT by GrumpyOldGuy
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To: jerod

Probably because they knew the whole thing was phony from the start?


11 posted on 06/27/2023 8:24:32 AM PDT by livius
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To: jerod
Putin’s support was flimsy before this incident... Now it’s deteriorating by the minutes and hours.

You don't have a clue what the hell you are talking about. And you foolishly believe whatever the western media and biden admin tell you. In truth, Putin enjoys a better then 80% approval. Add to that, Russia has been consistently winning in Ukraine and they have not even committed 10% of their military might. I would say that Russia is also draining the west, including the US, of it military weapons and financial assets. It's been win, win, win for Russia and it will continue until Trump gets back in office.
12 posted on 06/27/2023 8:25:15 AM PDT by JoSixChip (2020: The year of unreported truths; 2021: My main take away from this year? Trust no one.)
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To: jerod

Because the Wagner Group was not going after Putin, but after the Russian General Staff, supposedly. However, it now appears to be a cleaver ploy to reposition the Wagner Group north of Kiev! Apparently, the cleaver Russian’s even go the CIA to pay for the redeployment!


13 posted on 06/27/2023 8:29:09 AM PDT by SubMareener (Save us from Quarterly Freepathons! Become a MONTHLY DONOR)
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To: All

How about this.

There was no bloodshed. Russian MoD has said nothing about shot down aircraft and the Prig guy said only that any such things were accidents. They likely didn’t happen at all. The primary source for the talk of aircraft falling from the skies are Ukraine outlets.

Don’t go leaping to find video that we all know can be faked, or repurposed from the past. Save your energy. You can also not go looking for people saying that “Putin admitted” this or that. I saw the speeches. Nothing like that was said.

Support for Putin is overwhelming in the only place that matters. Get that through your heads. Also get through your heads that Putin is a moderate. He has overwhelming support and those few who do NOT support him are, mostly, almost all, far more hardline and want much more intense use of force in Ukraine. You are very lucky to have Putin as President of Russia.

Prig guy “marching” north towards Moscow was troops who were told they were re-deploying to the northern Ukraine border to stop any further terrorist incursions by less-than-company-sized groups previously stopped (by not much more than local police departments). THAT is why they headed north. Everything else is somewhat desperate-looking MSM hope.

CIA and MI6 had nothing to do with all this . . . we are told. Somehow, they are believed? Consider how desperate they must be to fund this guy.

This is the general equivalent of a guy who served a cause well for many years and then either overstepped or became mentally ill. MacArthur and Truman come to mind. You don’t have MacArthur executed. You just erase his further influence. Of course, MacArthur did not have access to Telegram channels in his day to pretend to continued relevance.

Final Reality. Russia has the overwhelming majority of natural gas in the world. And their oil will run out last. In modern society, it’s hard to find anything else with multi year significance.

Unless the US and UK stand up and announce they are going to invade and take those resources by force, then defeat is inevitable. Every day that passes those resources incrementally assert their dominance over their opponents who measure things in central bank created money from thin air to add to $32Trillion in debt.

And of course the US and UK cannot do that, in administrations that worship at the altar of Green this and Green that.


14 posted on 06/27/2023 8:30:18 AM PDT by Owen
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To: SubMareener

So... A pencil pushing KGB bureaucrat and his cook Prigozhin are actually military geniuses... Excuse me while I laugh out loud.


15 posted on 06/27/2023 8:41:05 AM PDT by jerod (Nazi's were essentially Socialist in Hugo Boss uniforms... Get over it!)
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To: jerod

Western media - played like a fine stradivarius.


16 posted on 06/27/2023 8:43:36 AM PDT by No Party Affiliation
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To: hardspunned

I think Prigozhin’s target was Shoigu,as they don’t seem to care for each other.


17 posted on 06/27/2023 8:44:01 AM PDT by davidb56
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To: jerod
Putin’s support was flimsy before this incident... Now it’s deteriorating by the minutes and hours.

You ukeNutz sure do lay it on thick.

18 posted on 06/27/2023 8:55:01 AM PDT by BlackbirdSST (Trump or Bust! Long live the Republic.)
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To: jerod

So? Same would happen here.


19 posted on 06/27/2023 8:55:34 AM PDT by CodeToad (No Arm up! They have!)
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To: davidb56

I think he was just saving his own rear, the best he can, which is not very good.

The writing is on the wall for Russia in Crimea. They’re out of reinforcements and effectively cut off from re-supply.

It will be an awful, bloody, slog trying to root them out, but they’ll eventually run out of food and ammo, so Ukraine can pretty much just wait it out.

Mercenaries have no stomach for an Alamo.

And surrender would result in war crimes brought against Wagner group, as they were among the worst of the lot.


20 posted on 06/27/2023 8:57:07 AM PDT by MeanWestTexan (Sometimes There Is No Lesser Of Two Evils)
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