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Russia Confirms Prigozhin's Death, and Another Top General Is Dismissed in Putin's Purge
PJ Media ^ | 08/24/2023 | Rick Moran

Posted on 08/24/2023 7:46:40 AM PDT by SeekAndFind

Yevgeny V. Prigozhin, the founder of the Wagner mercenary group who rebelled against Russia’s military leadership in June, has been confirmed dead by Russian authorities in a plane crash 100 miles northwest of Moscow.

But can those authorities be trusted to tell the truth? Rebekah Koffler, a strategic military intelligence analyst and former senior official at the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), says there may be a number of reasons the Kremlin would want us to think Prigozhin was dead.

“At this time, we lack independent confirmation whether the Russian media or the Federal Air Transport Agency reporting about Prigozhin’s death is credible,” she said. “There could be many reasons why Moscow wants us to believe that Prigozhin is dead. If he indeed died in the plane crash, it’s probably a result of the assassination operation, ‘wet deeds’ in Russian tradecraft, conducted on Putin’s orders.”

One reason for the reported death of Putin’s former close ally is that the GOP debates are tonight and it would be in Putin’s interest to force split-screen coverage between the debate and the unfolding story of Prigozhin’s “death.”

“If Prigozhin is alive, the story could be a disinformation operation, intended to get Prigozhin back under cover to run clandestine operations in Africa and other places vital for Putin,” Koffler added. “What I don’t rule out is either way, it’s not a coincidence that it happened today, on the day of the GOP presidential debates. The story that originated in the Russian media has hijacked the U.S. news cycle. Prigozhin has become the ninth personality, along with the actual presidential candidates that the media is covering.”

This is at least the 15th critic or enemy who has died under suspicious circumstances since Putin came to power in 2000.

(Excerpt) Read more at pjmedia.com ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events; Russia
KEYWORDS: death; koffler; prigozhin; rebekahkoffler; russia; wagner
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Putin decided to use today to clean house. The New York Times reports on the demotion of a general who had advance knowledge of Prigozhin’s “mutiny.”

The crash came hours after Russian authorities said that General Sergei Surovikin, a top officer who was seen as an ally of Mr. Prigozhin, had been relieved of his post. Mr. Surovikin and Mr. Prigozhin were seen as among the most ruthlessly effective Russian military leaders, both sidelined in power struggles with officials who had the ear of President Vladimir V. Putin.

General Sergei Surovikin was known as “General Armageddon” for his brutal tactics in Syria where he commanded the Russian forces. He served with Prigozhin in Syria, and the two developed a bond that has now led to the apparent death of one and at least the ruined career of another. Surovkin was removed from his post on August 18 “by a closed decree,” according to two individuals close to the Kremlin leadership. “The family still has no contact with him.”

1 posted on 08/24/2023 7:46:40 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
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To: SeekAndFind

2 posted on 08/24/2023 7:53:28 AM PDT by Magnum44 (...against all enemies, foreign and domestic... )
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To: SeekAndFind

The American Purge has not been as bloody but is every bit as ruthless.


3 posted on 08/24/2023 7:58:46 AM PDT by Savage Beast (Go to see Sound of Freedom. Encourage everyone you know to see it.)
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To: Magnum44

4 posted on 08/24/2023 8:01:04 AM PDT by Chode (there is no fall back position, there's no rally point, there is no LZ... we're on our own. #FJB)
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To: SeekAndFind

“What I don’t rule out is either way, it’s not a coincidence that it happened today, on the day of the GOP presidential debates. The story that originated in the Russian media has hijacked the U.S. news cycle. Prigozhin has become the ninth personality, along with the actual presidential candidates that the media is covering.”

Honestly, some of these people are delusional.


5 posted on 08/24/2023 8:01:41 AM PDT by tet68 ( " We would not die in that man's company, that fears his fellowship to die with us...." Henry V.)
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To: tet68
I don't believe for a second that Prigozhin is actually dead.


6 posted on 08/24/2023 8:05:56 AM PDT by C210N (We're at war: Make them have to cheat so much it becomes comical, then ridicule them into oblivion.)
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To: SeekAndFind

“ This is at least the 15th critic or enemy who has died under suspicious circumstances since Putin came to power in 2000.”

“Those are rookie numbers!”, says Hillary.


7 posted on 08/24/2023 8:07:55 AM PDT by Dogbert41 (“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God” -Matthew 5:9)
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To: SeekAndFind

Shouldn’t Putin already be dead of cancer by now?


8 posted on 08/24/2023 8:08:27 AM PDT by Angelino97
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To: SeekAndFind
One reason for the reported death of Putin’s former close ally is that the GOP debates are tonight and it would be in Putin’s interest to force split-screen coverage between the debate and the unfolding story of Prigozhin’s “death.”

That makes absolutely no sense.

The debate last night was a Zeinfeld type of event. It was a debate about nothing, since no one in the debate is going to win the nomination over Trump. So, it was an exercise in futility.

Secondly, the debate was not that important, and the debates that matter come in the general election, between Trump and whoever the democrats put up. So, split screen in pure nonsense, and in reality, the death of Prigo (if true) is vastly more important the the big scheme of things.
9 posted on 08/24/2023 8:12:37 AM PDT by adorno
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To: All

Putin has about 87 different ways he could eliminate that guy and his staff without also killing 3 innocent crew.

Assuming he’s actually dead.


10 posted on 08/24/2023 8:16:38 AM PDT by Owen
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To: Owen

back to the old days....sells newspapers


11 posted on 08/24/2023 8:25:23 AM PDT by Sacajaweau ( )
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To: Owen
Putin has about 87 different ways he could eliminate that guy and his staff

yes, as we've seen many times already ... Putin is a murderous KGB thug with no respect for other people ... how many innocent lives has he ruined, especially inside of Russia?

yet somehow the many dupes here on FR continue to insist that this blood-stained killer is some kind of "savior of Christianity"


12 posted on 08/24/2023 9:19:51 AM PDT by canuck_conservative (there would be no more need for NATO, if Russia could just stop attacking its neighbors)
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To: Chode

Lately most governments are making the mafia look honorable and respectable.... or maybe it’s always been that way.


13 posted on 08/24/2023 9:32:33 AM PDT by aquila48 (Do not let them make you "care" ! Guilting you is how they control you. )
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To: SeekAndFind

There are reasons that Russia would want us to think he’s dead. He actually being dead is a big one.


14 posted on 08/24/2023 9:40:30 AM PDT by webheart
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To: Owen

without also killing 3 innocent crew.

No one in Russia cares about the crew.


15 posted on 08/24/2023 9:47:43 AM PDT by PIF (They came for me and mine ... now its your turn)
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To: webheart

He actually being dead is a big one.

Its paving the way for Putin’s exit and the entrance of the Patrushev clan. Kadyerov could be next, along with all the Wagner commanders even those in Africa.


16 posted on 08/24/2023 9:50:29 AM PDT by PIF (They came for me and mine ... now its your turn)
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To: canuck_conservative

You might be surprised to learn that people who oppose involvement in the Ukrainian war are not generally fans of Putin. I don’t like Putin much myself and don’t care much for Zelensky either. I don’t think Putin is the savior of anything. I don’t know why people want to troll the people who are most like themselves. Why don’t you criticize people who post on other websites instead of complaining about people who post on FreeRepublic?


17 posted on 08/24/2023 9:51:50 AM PDT by webheart
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To: PIF

Well you don’t have to believe Putin cares about the 3 innocent crew.

But the guys who plant the bomb are the final deciders on that. Russian military officers come from exactly the same configuration as US military officers — academy, ROTC or OTS. It’s not reasonable to presume the generic civilian university grad is walking around looking for ways to kill crew.

Odds are not high that plane was killed on command, assuming it was killed at all.


18 posted on 08/24/2023 9:56:46 AM PDT by Owen
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To: All

You don’t have to kill anyone to stage this. Assuming eye-witnesses saw an actual plane blown up in the sky, that plane could have been placed into a flight pattern by one experienced pilot who could have parachuted out before placing it on a safe heading in case the operation failed and the plane went on to fuel exhaustion somewhere near the north pole.

Or you could assume one or more dupes were sent to their deaths without being told anything relevant to Prighozin, who may or may not have been on board.

We don’t know anything really. If he’s alive some evidence of it will eventually surface. A funeral and grieving relatives and associates? That would mean nothing, they could be misled too. There likely isn’t much left of any humans possibly killed in this event, so nobody would have seen anything definitive, perhaps just an urn full of ashes after an “autopsy” that could mean nothing.

Russia is not as open a society as western countries but neither is it North Korea or Iran. Some spark of curiosity will cause some journalist(s) to look around and see if they can spot any evidence of him being alive and operating some aspect of Wagner. If nothing like that seems to be happening for a few months, then some subordinate will start calling the shots. I don’t know who that might be, but some parts of Wagner must still exist somewhere doing something. What now for them? Do they just pack up and go home, or merge into some other entity? My understanding is that there are Wagner assets in foreign countries other than Russia, Belarus and Ukraine. So who if anyone controls them now?


19 posted on 08/24/2023 10:36:49 AM PDT by Peter ODonnell (It's tough non-work but somebody (Congress) has not to do it. )
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To: Owen

According to the wreckage and many reports (if there was a bomb, it did no damage), there is more than ample evidence that what brought it down were 2 S-300 missiles. On Putin’s order. Wagner commanders and Kadyerov next. Clean house.

Odds have nothing to do with Russian clan politics.


20 posted on 08/24/2023 11:24:38 AM PDT by PIF (They came for me and mine ... now its your turn)
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