(#5257) The farce of yesterday in Russia

      What was expected to be a showdown between the wagner leader and putin turned into a bust. Negotiations were held at the last minute if we believe this was a true showdown and instead turned into a blackmail success by the wagner leader. He extracted concessions from putin that on the face of it had nothing to do with removing the defense minister. Which was the main thrust of the march to Moscow by the wagners. There may be a deal later in the coming months that will remove the defense minister but we don't know yet if that was part of the negotiations. All we know for sure is that the march to Moscow to replace the leadership there is now over.
     However this momentary saga concludes the effect it has had on the Russian troops fighting in Ukraine is overwhelmingly negative. The Russian troops had little motivation in Ukraine before this latest upheaval between the wagner leader and putin. Now their motivation is even worse in that the wagner leader exposed putin for his true intentions in attacking Ukraine. If there were any Russian patriots still fighting in Ukraine their souls were crushed to find out that they were giving their lives so the billionaires could make more money. I now expect to see more movement from the Ukrainian counter offensive to oust Russian occupiers from Ukrainian soil in the next few days.
     As to to the current turmoil in Russia there is some relief that an all out war between the wagners and the Russian government has been averted but the underlining problems still exist. The kremlin, putin and the oligarchs are now exposed as complicit in the false narrative that Ukraine was a threat to Russia. How the Russian propaganda machine will spin this latest fiasco will require an imagination of some incredulity by the Russian people to accept. The days are now clearly numbered for putin and his allies but what form that numbering takes is still murky at the moment. Tomorrow should at least answer some of the questions that are too numerous to equate today.