@see_the_sus @LiberalLibrarian it's very interesting actually. If true, one might be tempted to see it as revenge for turning on Putin, if only briefly (you gotta have nerves/balls/uterus of steel). OTOH, I see it potentially as removing an obstacle to Russian economic and military expansion in Africa where Wagner Group has been operating for quite some time. Most recently they've offered aid to the junta in Niger. I don't think Putin wanted him potentially poisoning relationships.
@LiberalLibrarian this was a hit. Putin took him out
@ucantstop_me @LiberalLibrarian Of course it was. It's a more elaborate way of dropping him out a window.
Wagner says on social media the plane was shot down by Russian air defenses.
@RationalLeft It what? Holy shit. Coup 2.0 on the way. @ucantstop_me
@LiberalLibrarian @ucantstop_me Clearly, between the removal of Wagner-friendly generals and now the hit on Prigozhin, Putin is counting on Wagner being too isolated and disorganized to try again.
@LiberalLibrarian @ucantstop_me It is indeed. A gamble he thinks he'll win. Time will tell if he's right.
And of course a short-term success could still disguise long-term trouble... if, say, more generals decide "he's going to fuck everything up and then kill us to shift the blame."
Which is why I say this will boomerang on him. He's willing to take out 9 people to get the 1. That will clarify minds.
@LiberalLibrarian @ucantstop_me Very possibly... though I'd bet the effects won't manifest immediately.
@LiberalLibrarian taking "falling out a window" to the next level.
@LiberalLibrarian
Gee golly what a surprise. The idiot shouldnβt have gone back to Russia.