“The very public death of Putin henchman Yevgeny Prigozhin highlights the evolution of Russia into a mafia state held together by violence and incapable of global leadership.” “… Prigozhin had come to symbolize the criminal trajectory of the Russian state[,] [i]n the 1980s, … imprisoned in the Soviet Union, … [then] a rags-to-riches transformation from [post-Soviet] street vendor … to […]
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“NANCY CORDES: … So, … Putin claims he had nothing to do with this. Is there anyone in the diplomatic community who believes that? FIONA HILL: I doubt it. … I think what we can certainly say is he didn’t order it not to happen because there are plenty of people who were painting a target on Prigozhin’s back. The […]
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“In a Ukraine village, there are no tears for Yevgeny V. Prigozhin, the leader of the Wagner private militia, whose presumed death in a plane crash was reported this week.” “Mykola Honchar lives in a crumbling stone house in what is left of a tiny hamlet of eastern Ukraine. … attacked by Russian forces … last year, as … Wagner […]
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“Angela Stent …: Oh, I think Putin would have enough reason to [want] Prigozhin dead. After all, Prigozhin challenged the Kremlin. He challenged the conduct of the war. He had a populist message to Russians that, while their children were dying and their husbands dying in Ukraine, the children of the elite were in the South of France enjoying themselves. […]
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“William J. Burns gave the most detailed public account yet by a U.S. official of the damage done to President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia by last month’s uprising by the mercenary group” “… [C.I.A. Director] Burns … said that for much of the 36 hours of the [Wagner] rebellion last month, Russian security services, the military and decision makers […]
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“The writings of Tolstoy, Turgenev, Dostoyevsky and others are littered with clues for understanding the 21st-century world.” “Books of cultural criticism seldom shed a piercing light on headline events. However, readers of ‘Wonder Confronts Certainty,’ Gary Saul Morson’s masterly panorama of classic Russian literature and its hinterland of ideas, will find their understanding of Yevgeny Prigozhin’s recent botched rebellion against […]
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“As Wimbledon gets into full swing, there’s no hiding the ructions Vladimir Putin’s war on Ukraine has caused in locker rooms.” “… [A]s the world’s top stars … battl[e] … through … Wimbledon, tennis is grappling with how to handle all the Russian players near the top of the game. Ukraine’s players, for their part, reckon the sport is failing […]
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(Russia Matters – russiamatters.org) The U.S. has included cluster munitions in its latest $800 million package of military aid to Ukraine. More than 100 countries have signed onto the Convention on Cluster Munitions, vowing to never use them, but the U.S. is not one of them. A significant percentage of the submunitions often fail to detonate, effectively turning them into […]
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(Russia Matters – russiamatters.org – RM Staff – July 7, 2023) What made Yevgeny Prigozhin rebel? We have seen multiple explanations offered, including his outspoken hatred for Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov; his evident reluctance to give up control of his PMC Wagner to the Defense Ministry; unspecified personal financial pressures; and his […]
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“The short-lived mutiny by the Wagner Group rebounded to help solidify Putin’s control.” “… There is no doubt that Prigozhin’s rebellion was unpleasant news for Putin. But is the Russian leader weakened? We know very little about what happened between Putin and Prigozhin … ‘Putin’s chef.’ And what we do know supports very few, if any, of the claims that […]
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“If Putin’s defense spending numbers are correct, it’s likely that Prigozhin overstated the size of his army.” “… [D]isatisfaction with Russia’s military and political leadership will continue to brew with the fighting in Ukraine. As more details become available about Wagner — until recently, the best-equipped, always regularly paid part of the Russian invasion force — officers and soldiers alike […]
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