Something is afoot in Russia as mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin claims his troops are on the march in Russia, while Putin has not been seen in public, and the Russian leadership appears to be preparing for a military coup.
Prigozhin accused Russian troops of attacking his troops as tensions between the mercenaries and Putin’s regime came to light. Prigozhin claimed his troops are entering the Russian city of Rostov and Putin appears to be preparing for a military coup.
Video from NBC News’ Raf Sanchez:
NBC News’ Raf Sanchez reported: There is currently no hard evidence that a column of his troops is indeed advancing on Rostov. But the Kremlin is not taking any chances. This is a government that seems to be preparing for a military coup.” pic.twitter.com/CC2lA5Xfdh
— Sarah Reese Jones (@PoliticianSarah) June 24, 2023
Sanchez said, “Prigozhin is a man with a history of exaggeration. There is currently no hard evidence that a column of his troops is indeed advancing towards Rostov. But the Kremlin is not taking any chances. This is a government that seems to be preparing for a military coup. Russian state media say the government has tightened security in Moscow. And in other cities. ”
The former CIA head of Russian operations said we cannot rule out that Putin is in trouble.
Video:
Former CIA chief of operations in Russia Steve Hall tells CNN: “I don’t think we can any longer rule out that Putin is in serious trouble.” pic.twitter.com/pVfjeu9Y7V
— Sarah Reese Jones (@PoliticianSarah) June 24, 2023
Hall said, “The fact that we’re looking out of the Kremlin indicates that at least they believe that could happen. You have armored personnel carriers passing through Moscow and the FSB is telling them to hold Prigozhin. All of these show that there is great concern in Moscow that that could be exactly what is going on. That said, Putin still has a lot of leverage to stop Prigozhin, but I don’t think we can rule out the possibility that Putin is in serious trouble any longer.”
Meanwhile, Putin has publicly disappeared.
Former Am. Michael McFaul tweeted:
Putin’s absence in public so far in this crisis is striking.
— Michael McFaul (@McFaul) June 24, 2023
President Biden has been briefed on what is happening in Russia as both the US and Ukraine take this seriously.
Russia is in crisis, and the crisis was triggered by Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. Whether or not a full-scale coup takes place is unknown, but what is known is that most Russians do not like or want this invasion of Ukraine. The Russians are trapped.
Putin’s authoritarian leadership has never been weaker and at the moment he is vulnerable.
Regardless of how this scenario plays out, Putin has already suffered major damage.