This obviously doesn't support my gut theory that Prigozhin and Putin were working together to draw out possible defectors. Back to the drawing board.
easy shot for a mig or even a properly staged manpad. the story of two contrails makes me think missile
I defer to your expertise. I guess the only other question is did the Ukranians possibly do it somehow? Seems very doubtful to me but the Ukranian's have been attacking Russian assets "In Russia". I put it at either a direct order from Putin or it could be Russian incompetence in air interdiction. That is ENTIRELY possible from those bumbling fools.
It is almost certainly Putin. But Prigozhin had a lot of enemies, and the Ukranians would have also been happy to end the catering business
agreed, this was russian on russian. I have no expertise but the air force general was just replaced and a jet of the guy he was working with to threaten Putin just fell out of the sky. a witness reported two contrails.
I was aware of the AF General being replaced, all seems a bit to coincidental dosen't it. It stinks of the Kremlin to me. I'm not decided on if this is a good thing or not. The Russians were using Wagner to do nasty ugly things in central Africa and are probably involved in the recent sacking of the Niger President amongst many other dirty dealings in that region. I believe they are trying to corral the rare earth resources into their political sphere. Mr. P was heavily involved in that. On the other hand Putin is clearly insane. I have this rather odd belief that after the experience at Bakhmut Mr. P may have been a bit more sensible about dealing with the insane conflict in Ukraine via dipolmacy, had he assumed the mantle of power. Neither here nor there though, he was bad news, killed many, many people. I just don't think he would have ever considered nukes, as the Kremlin is always rattling that saber.
In OTHER news: A Russian pilot landed a Mi-8 helicopter on a Ukrainian airbase in a daring defection, Ukrainian official says
I think this is good news for Ukraine. Prigo and his Wagner troops were the only Russians capable of offensive maneuvers in Ukraine. It likely means that Russia can no longer win the war, unless Ukraine runs out of people or ammo. Without Prigo, Wagner cannot easily be controlled, and is not currently trusted to be in combat near Russia. All Russia can do is run a defensive war, and they are slowly losing that war. Wagner was Putin's ace in the hole in this war, and now they are not a factor.
The Dutch are going to send "a thousand chargers" for defeating mines remotely. They must be the new dual-use iPhone chargers. Or they could be remote-controlled Dodge Chargers, which are somewhat disposable. Netherlands to supply Ukraine with a thousand chargers for remote demining
India's moon landing humiliates once proud Russians, consigning them to the scrap heap of former superpowers. Is there anything that Russia can do without humiliating themselves? Opinion: India’s moon landing shines an uncomfortable light on Russia’s failures | CNN
So Ukranian podcasters are confirming it was a planned execution. Two Russian missiles took the aircraft out. It was filmed by the Russian Military. Finally the entire leadership of Wagner was wiped out. Including that insane looking pro Nazi dude that you hope you never encounter in this life.
I hate to admit it but Hollywood is gonna make a helleva movie or documentary about Wagner. Say what you want but that organization was serious and mean as hell, they made billions on being a Para Military organization that did NOT MIND, not only beating an opponent down, but literally taking over policing and economic control of entire regions. Old school barbarians really, with business acumen and political savy...........until today.
More on the big picture of U.S. defense spending vs. reduction in Russia's combat capabilities. The U.S. has apparently spent 3% of one year's military budget on support for Ukraine, and Russia has lost 50% of its combat capability. That is what you call an impressive return on investment. All while sending over mostly 40-year-old technology and a lot of equipment that was headed for retirement. Ukraine used 3% of US defense budget to destroy half of Russian army — Lindsey Graham Here's to raising a beer when the other 50% of Russia's combat capability gets destroyed.
