Russia Invades Ukraine

[hughesie27]

Just now, Lone Striker said:

Is it beyond the realms of possibility that Prigozhin ends  up striking a pact with his pal Putin ?  Something along the lines of "You fire all your the senior military top-brass like Shoigu,  put me in charge of  all Russian Defence and military decisions, and in return Wagner allows you to remain President."

 

At the end of the day, his anger is at the senior military generals who were too scared to tell Putin the truth about the limitations the Russian army had to sustain an invasion of Ukraine - and he runs  an army of convicts &  thugs who perform much better than the Russian army units do.    I find it hard to believe he's actually wanting to become the new Russian President himself.

 

 

That would require quite the spin given Putin has called him a traitor. To then put him as his right hand man.

[periodictabledancer]

48 minutes ago, hughesie27 said:

Are Wagner still pro Ukrai e war but anti Putins approach?

Good question.

He's accused those behind the 2014 invasion of being a bunch of gangsters who've used the invasion to enrich themselves. Whether or not he supports the invasion remains to be seen - but given he has committed his troops to it, he seems to be. 

[redjambo]

Reports now that the first Kadyrovites have reached Rostov. If true, it will no doubt all kick off there unless they're actually going to support the insurrection.

[periodictabledancer]

26 minutes ago, Cruyff said:

 

 

Putin has the National Guard to call on, A 30,000 personal protection squad. 

[Mikey1874]

Proper popcorn moment

[Cruyff]

12 minutes ago, redjambo said:

Reports now that the first Kadyrovites have reached Rostov. If true, it will no doubt all kick off there unless they're actually going to support the insurrection.

 

 

 

 

[Lone Striker]

14 minutes ago, hughesie27 said:

That would require quite the spin given Putin has called him a traitor. To then put him as his right hand man.

Dictators admire other dictators though, even dictators they don't like.  Hence why they can make very odd bedfellows.      

[doctor jambo]

The only logic here is that Prig sees no way of winning in Ukraine , and that means nowhere for him to run.

anywhere pro Ukraine and he is on trial.

Anywhere pro putin - death.

I suspect he will seize power, and ask for amnesty in return for ending the war.

It’s the only way he can live through this

[periodictabledancer]

19 minutes ago, Lone Striker said:

Is it beyond the realms of possibility that Prigozhin ends  up striking a pact with his pal Putin ?  Something along the lines of "You fire all your the senior military top-brass like Shoigu,  put me in charge of  all Russian Defence and military decisions, and in return Wagner allows you to remain President."

 

At the end of the day, his anger is at the senior military generals who were too scared to tell Putin the truth about the limitations the Russian army had to sustain an invasion of Ukraine - and he runs  an army of convicts &  thugs who perform much better than the Russian army units do.    I find it hard to believe he's actually wanting to become the new Russian President himself.

 

 

Putin has described Prighozin's actions as "a stab in the back" so it's hard to see how they could form any alliance. 

[Sertse]

Multiple unconfirmed reports Wagner are on the outskirts of Moscow city itself

[hughesie27]

6 minutes ago, Lone Striker said:

Dictators admire other dictators though, even dictators they don't like.  Hence why they can make very odd bedfellows.      

 

[Cruyff]

 

 

 

[redjambo]

1 minute ago, Sertse said:

Multiple unconfirmed reports Wagner are on the outskirts of Moscow city itself

 

Are you sure you don't mean Moscow Oblast (region)? They would have to be fair licking along to reach the city itself so quickly.

[Hagar the Horrible]

Well the BBC have verified that Gazza has turned up at the Kremlin with  fishing rod, a chicken supper and  six pack. Putin is finished.

[milky_26]

1 minute ago, redjambo said:

 

Are you sure you don't mean Moscow Oblast (region)? They would have to be fair licking along to reach the city itself so quickly.

yep around an hour ago they estimated they were circa 250 miles from moscow

[The Mighty Thor]

 Does that mean that our bills are going to go up again due to Prigozhin's illegal invasion of Russia 🤔

[Hagar the Horrible]

What will the defence do and even the police do in about a hour or so if the Wagner group reach moskva high Street? A fire fight won't look good for either side. 

[Mikey1874]

11 minutes ago, Sertse said:

Multiple unconfirmed reports Wagner are on the outskirts of Moscow city itself

 

They've smashed through the road blocks. 

 

 

Edited June 24, 2023 by Mikey1874

[Mikey1874]

 

[Watt-Zeefuik]

3 hours ago, Lovecraft said:

It's not a coup, it's a special operation.

 

😆

 

If it's not from the d'Etat region of France, it's not a coup, it's a special operation.

 

2 hours ago, Smithee said:

This is no time for draculas

 

 

1 hour ago, periodictabledancer said:

 

 

This might possibly be the best iteration of the popcorn meme ever. It might never be topped.

 

1 hour ago, Locky said:

Just catching up with this on Twitter and the news in the last hour. Let me get this right:

 

A private militia owned by a once friend of Putin, has revolted against the Kremlin and are perhaps looking to overthrow old Vlad and his cronies, and free the Russian people from his dictatorship. Or at the very least, demand the war stops. 

 

As a result, Lukashenko has shat it and fled Belarus because if Putin falls, there's every chance he falls too and Belarus too becomes free. Ukraine is no doubt monitoring closely and will look to assist Belarus with that very revolt should it look likely. 

 

Either way, Putin is looking very vulnerable here and this could ultimately ease a lot of the tension in Ukraine.

 

Have I got that right?

 

I don't think he wants to free Russia. I think he wants the keys to the control room.

 

1 hour ago, periodictabledancer said:

No, he's p'd off with the army top brass (Shoigu & Gerasimov) - at least that's what he's been saying, and he wants them removed. He hasn't publicly said anything about toppling Putin, he hasn't mentioned Putin by name at all- so far. Prighozin has repeatedly condemned the top brass as being useless- which has resulted (he claims) in him being robbed of much needed ammo and recently being subjected to air strikes. 

 

 

 

He's very clearly trying to give Putin the option of staying on top so long as he sides with him. Prigozhin rhetoric has been 100% at the generals. As someone said on Twitter last night, it's less of a coup d'etat than a fight between the capos of a mafia family for the favor of the don.

 

47 minutes ago, AlphonseCapone said:

Would just add a bit of caution about claims folk will be seeing online. There's so much misinformation and accidental mistakes that rumours grow arms and legs very easily. 

 

Take Putin's plane. There's not actually any evidence he's left Moscow on that plane, even if it has left. Doesn't mean he wasn't but big difference between could have, likely has and definitely has. 

 

Indeed. I just read a great quote on Twitter from Queen Victoria: "Anyone can say anything on the internet, be careful what you believe." She really thought of everything, that one.

 

16 minutes ago, periodictabledancer said:

Good question.

He's accused those behind the 2014 invasion of being a bunch of gangsters who've used the invasion to enrich themselves. Whether or not he supports the invasion remains to be seen - but given he has committed his troops to it, he seems to be. 

 

It's a bit clever what he's trying to do. Putin can't leave Ukraine without losing face off his Billy Big Baws act. Prigozhyn is repeatedly insisting that he has insider info that Putin was deceived by the generals into doing what they wanted. (this is total garbage, of course, many of the generals plainly didn't want this, but this is Russia and the media aren't exactly free.) The idea is that Putin gets to say, ack, this whole Ukraine mess was the fault of those dastardly generals, now that good ol' Evgeny has pulled back the curtain, let's string those *******s up and pull out of Ukraine and clear up this whole misadventure.

 

It seems to be a bit too clever and so far Putin isn't biting (if you were him, would you really think Prigozhin would stop with the generals?). But that seems to be the play.

[Hagar the Horrible]

Just now, The Mighty Thor said:

 Does that mean that our bills are going to go up again due to Prigozhin's illegal invasion of Russia 🤔

Buy shares in popcorn now. Today will see the collapse of a nation in a few hours.  

[Diadora Van Basten]

This is quality I suspect it will all end badly but at the moment it’s hilarious watching Prizgozin flush out the rats who started this nonsense.

 

He is really going for the throat.

[The Mighty Thor]

3 minutes ago, Hagar the Horrible said:

Buy shares in popcorn now. Today will see the collapse of a nation in a few hours.  

For the second time in my lifetime

[Locky]

33 minutes ago, periodictabledancer said:

Good question.

He's accused those behind the 2014 invasion of being a bunch of gangsters who've used the invasion to enrich themselves. Whether or not he supports the invasion remains to be seen - but given he has committed his troops to it, he seems to be. 

Not for one second defending Preghozin as I honestly don't know much about him, and does seem like a complete nutjob. But as I previously mentioned, his militia is by Russian law, illegal. The only reason they seem to exist is purely down to his alliances with Putin. In other words, if he wants his business to exist, he must do as Russia tell them. If that means deploying troops to Ukraine then I guess it's what he's got to do. He'll no doubt just see it as business.

[Watt-Zeefuik]

1 minute ago, Locky said:

Not for one second defending Preghozin as I honestly don't know much about him, and does seem like a complete nutjob. But as I previously mentioned, his militia is by Russian law, illegal. The only reason they seem to exist is purely down to his alliances with Putin. In other words, if he wants his business to exist, he must do as Russia tell them. If that means deploying troops to Ukraine then I guess it's what he's got to do. He'll no doubt just see it as business.

He's much worse than that. Wagner are one of the nastier global militia-for-hire organizations. Responsible for war crimes all through Africa and western Asia.

[Sertse]

16 minutes ago, redjambo said:

 

Are you sure you don't mean Moscow Oblast (region)? They would have to be fair licking along to reach the city itself so quickly.

Not the oblast, the actual city. I'm listening to a Twitter space and they just reported it but they did say it's not confirmed.

[Locky]

1 minute ago, Led Tasso said:

He's much worse than that. Wagner are one of the nastier global militia-for-hire organizations. Responsible for war crimes all through Africa and western Asia.

At first I truly hoped this was a man on a mission to free the people of his country from the tirade of a dictator. Ultimately, it's very much a clash of ego's. Fascinating stuff either way and if it goes well for Wagner, it has to ultimately spell the end for Vlad. A man defying Putin and being unpunished, is in its own right, detrimental to the perception of how much power Putin has or ever did have.

 

There's several potential outcomes here, but the best outcome in the first instance is the Russian people waking up and seeing Putin for what he is. Then it will all surely fall like a house of cards.

[Hagar the Horrible]

The FSB has raided Wagner offices and took 2 truck loads of cash. The Wagner group confirmed its theirs they use cash to compensate the families of their dead. They are not happy, the head of the FSB will be bricking it if they get to their offices 

[RS86]

Chechens arrived at Rostov and have surrendered.

 

https://www.instagram.com/reel/Ct4IWdgMvxz/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

[Watt-Zeefuik]

1 minute ago, RS86 said:

Chechens arrived at Rostov and have surrendered.

 

https://www.instagram.com/reel/Ct4IWdgMvxz/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

Holy shit

[hughesie27]

3 minutes ago, RS86 said:

Chechens arrived at Rostov and have surrendered.

 

https://www.instagram.com/reel/Ct4IWdgMvxz/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

What was the point of going?

[hughesie27]

Medvedev "World will be on the brink of catalogue if Russian nuclear weapons fall into the hands of bandits."

[RS86]

2 minutes ago, hughesie27 said:

What was the point of going?

Wonder if Kadyrov knew his number was up if Putin got toppled so has went there to surrender and join up?

[periodictabledancer]

8 minutes ago, RS86 said:

Chechens arrived at Rostov and have surrendered.

 

https://www.instagram.com/reel/Ct4IWdgMvxz/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

Other reports saying the main force still hasn't arrived yet - might be these guys got ahead of themselves and their comrades.  

[Watt-Zeefuik]

3 minutes ago, hughesie27 said:

What was the point of going?

 

Ordered to do so. Now that they're there, they're reinforcing Rostov, which is the head of the rebellion for now.

[Homme]

6 minutes ago, hughesie27 said:

What was the point of going?

 

[Mikey1874]

9 minutes ago, Led Tasso said:

Holy shit

 

Just had good PR for a few years. Ukrainians say they are shit fighters. 

[Hagar the Horrible]

For me the west taking out putin would have united Russia and kicked a hornet nest. Russia and Russian had to deal with this themselves. Putin might jump from a window in the next day's erhmm. I did think that putin would have been seen as a great leader just by saber rattling and showing the west as weak by taking Crimea so by doing nothing he was strong. By his special operation his army has been proved to be a paper tiger. He would have lost in Ukraine anyway and that would have been his downfall. He was always going to lose the Ukraine war but to lose his country in 24 hours by a gang of angry skinheads makes him out to be the worlds worst military leader ever.

[ri Alban]

Putin will absolutely hammer this traitor. His head on a spike, and his backers off to the Blair Moscow big cats enclosure.

[Lovecraft]

2 minutes ago, ri Alban said:

Putin will absolutely hammer this traitor. His head on a spike, and his backers off to the Blair Moscow big cats enclosure.

Doesn't sound like he will be around too much longer.

 

 

[Watt-Zeefuik]

3 minutes ago, Mikey1874 said:

 

Just had good PR for a few years. Ukrainians say they are shit fighters. 

TBF also seeing chat that those weren't the real mercs surrendering, but that it was staged. I could easily believe either TBF.

[kingantti1874]

Just now, ri Alban said:

Putin will absolutely hammer this traitor. His head on a spike, and his backers off to the Blair Moscow big cats enclosure.

how is he going to do that? His military is in Ukraine, desperately undermanned, under resourced with terrible morale. They are reliant on the police to stop c25k troops.  No matter how this particular episode ends sooner or later putin is ****ed. The propaganda which had many believing that Russia was some military superpower is dead

[Watt-Zeefuik]

1 minute ago, Lovecraft said:

Doesn't sound like he will be around too much longer.

 

 

One of them won't be around for long at this rate. I'm not going to take sides, whichever one is gone will be a good thing.

[Hagar the Horrible]

1 minute ago, ri Alban said:

Putin will absolutely hammer this traitor. His head on a spike, and his backers off to the Blair Moscow big cats enclosure.

Putin will be right now looking for a safe haven abroad. Rishi, mate pal, howitzer going? Biden we have been pals for aged. Oh crap I have to live in China, what a shithole. Same as nic

[AlphonseCapone]

16 minutes ago, RS86 said:

Chechens arrived at Rostov and have surrendered.

 

https://www.instagram.com/reel/Ct4IWdgMvxz/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

 

Doesn't look like any the militarily vehicles or properly armed Chechens. Doubt they've headed all that way, publicly as well, to just surrender. Perhaps it'll be a massive plot twist and they'll join Wagner side but still, doubt it's correct to say the Chechens have surrendered at this stage. 

[Mikey1874]

A new Russian leader needs to decide 

 

A. Withdraw from Ukraine 

 

B. Do it properly

1. Mobilisation 

2. Restructure leadership

3. Bomb Kyiv to shit

4. Restructure forces to invade Kyiv and Odesa 

 

Money is on Prigozhin wants to do it properly. 

 

But Russia is probably weakened too badly and the risk is the Ukrainians will walk over them before they can restructure.

[il Duce McTarkin]

2 hours ago, Dusk_Till_Dawn said:

Genuinely does feel like Putin is about to take it dry up the bisto pipe.

 

Chechyans next, hopefully. Been a long time coming for those vermin 

 

Poetry.

 

1 hour ago, Cade said:

These are the same boys that have been committing war crimes and crimes against humanity around the world for over a decade.

Good guys they are not.

They're just blowing up other bad guys right now instead of civilians.

 

This.

[redjambo]

Just now, Hagar the Horrible said:

Putin will be right now looking for a safe haven abroad. Rishi, mate pal, howitzer going? Biden we have been pals for aged. Oh crap I have to live in China, what a shithole. Same as nic

 

Either of the 2 main protagonists would be welcomed with open arms and given protection in a number of African countries. If things don't go in favour of Prigozhin, I can easily see him happily buggering off to Africa and running his "empire" from there. I'm not sure Putin would be too keen on living there though.

[Mikey1874]

It's effectively martial law in Moscow.

[Watt-Zeefuik]

5 minutes ago, AlphonseCapone said:

 

Doesn't look like any the militarily vehicles or properly armed Chechens. Doubt they've headed all that way, publicly as well, to just surrender. Perhaps it'll be a massive plot twist and they'll join Wagner side but still, doubt it's correct to say the Chechens have surrendered at this stage. 

 

Traffic, man, it'll mess up anyone's day.