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 ...
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.”
The American Purge has not been as bloody but is every bit as ruthless.
“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.
“ 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.
Shouldn’t Putin already be dead of cancer by now?
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.
back to the old days....sells newspapers
Lately most governments are making the mafia look honorable and respectable.... or maybe it’s always been that way.
There are reasons that Russia would want us to think he’s dead. He actually being dead is a big one.
without also killing 3 innocent crew.
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No one in Russia cares about the crew.
He actually being dead is a big one.
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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.
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?
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.
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?
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.
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