As this is a developing story, I’m skipping the archive link.
It’s astounding that Prigozhin was so naive as to think that he could attempt a coup against Putin, and then simply retire in exile to Belarus. Everybody knew something like this would happen, except Prigozhin himself apparently. People have suffered ‘unfortunate accidents’ at the hands of Putin for far less.
then simply retire in exile to Belarus
why would anyone think he was looking to retire
https://mastodon.coffee/@TidalFlats/110940255733069000
Putin:
I thought I had him in a box.
And then he got out like a fox.
And then I saw him in a house.
And I then he went to Belarus.
So I will track him here and there.
Say! I can track him anywhere!
I do not like this Wagner man!
Thank you! Thank you, SAM-I-Am.
I wonder if Prigozhin had kompromat or a dead man’s switch.
Seems plausible that this will cause issues further down the line.
🤖 I’m a bot that provides automatic summaries for articles:
Click here to see the summary
Yevgeniy Prigozhin, the Wagner Group mercenary chief who led a short-lived mutiny against the Kremlin in June, was listed as a passenger on a plane that crashed in Russia on Wednesday, killing all 10 people on board, including three pilots and seven passengers, according to Russian state news agency Tass, which cites the press service of the Ministry of Emergency Situations.
Russia’s emergency services did not immediately confirm whether Prigozhin had been on board and died.
Saved 0% of original text.
Nice save bro
Bad bot
What about this?
WaPo gift link to bypass paywall.
Is every vaguely prominent leader in Russia dumb as rocks? How did he think he’d get away with an attempted coup while leaving the dictator in power?
Did he expect to get points for being bad at a coup?
I think he thought it would succeed and put him in power. When that failed he went mostly silent for a long time, probably trying to figure out how to survive. While it is no surprise to anyone (including him) that he was still a target, I think he made a reasonable (though on hindsight obviously wrong) assumption that things have cleared up enough by now to be worth risking travel.
