James Risen of The Intercept writes about the remarkable thing that the leader of the Wagner Group did when he led a short-lived mutiny: he told the truth about why Putin invaded Ukraine.
Risen writes:
ONE OF THE most subversive things that Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin did during his brief rebellion last weekend was to tell the truth.
Prigozhin is a pathological liar, a professional disinformation artist who was indicted in the United States in connection with the internet troll farm he ran, which was at the forefront of Russian efforts to intervene in the 2016 U.S. presidential election to help Donald Trump win.
But as the mercenary boss began his mutiny in late June, he experienced a brief and surprising bout of honesty when he launched into an online tirade against what he said were the lies used by Moscow to justify the brutal Russian invasion of Ukraine. His comments were so candid and off-message for a Russian leader that it seemed as if someone had mistakenly handed him a speech meant for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
The invasion was nothing more than a massive land grab by the Russian oligarchy, Prigozhin charged, designed to enrich the country’s powerful elites while poor Russians served as cannon fodder. Russian claims that a Nazi regime in Ukraine, backed by NATO, was about to attack Russia were lies, Prigozhin said. The war was started by the Russian oligarchy to benefit themselves and gain power. In his rant, Prigozhin did not criticize Russian President Vladimir Putin by name, focusing instead on the broader Russian elite, and specifically on his personal enemy Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu.
“The Ministry of Defense is trying to deceive the public and the president and spin the story that there were insane levels of aggression from the Ukrainian side and that they were going to attack us together with the whole NATO bloc,” Prigozhin said on his Telegram channel on June 23. The truth, he said, was that “there was nothing extraordinary happening on the eve of February 24,” the day last year when Russian invaded. Ukraine was not planning any kind of attack against Russia, he added.
Russia’s invasion “was started for a completely different reason,” Prigozhin said. “What was the war for? The war was needed for Shoigu to receive a hero star. … The oligarchic clan that rules Russia needed the war,” he said. “The mentally ill scumbags decided: ‘It’s OK, we’ll throw in a few thousand more Russian men as cannon fodder. They’ll die under artillery fire, but we’ll get what we want.’”
“Shoigu killed thousands of the most combat-ready Russian soldiers in the first days of the war,” Prigozhin said, adding that the invasion began even as Zelenskyy and Ukraine were eager for peace. The Ukrainian leader “was ready for agreements. All that needed to be done was to get off Mount Olympus and negotiate with him.”
Prigozhin thus punctured the main argument used by Russian propagandists and their Western lackeys: that NATO’s eastward expansion since the end of the Cold War caused the war in Ukraine. Putin has constantly railed against NATO, and his misleading narrative that the U.S. caused the war in Ukraine by pushing for alliance’s expansion has resonated widely among pro-Putin right-wing extremists in the West.
Kremlin lies. Open the link to finish the article.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Prigozhin did not blame the war on oligarchs. He blamed it on generals and a defense minister feeding Putin disinformation. At the same time, he blamed Russian defense establishment leaders for starving his troops of ammunition and for directly shelling his troops. He made clear that his invasion was not directed toward Putin but toward those generals. Then, immediately after it was called off, Dmitry Peskov, Putin’s press secretary and chief liar, told the press that Putin and Prigozhin had come to an arrangement and BIZARRELY made the claim that Prigozhin’s forces had been careful to avoid harming any Russians. He seemed to be laying the groundwork for something. This led me to believe that perhaps the “coup that wasn’t a coup” was a carefully constructed offramp for Putin after his disastrous war. Disastrous wars (e.g., Mussolini’s in Ethiopia) have a way of leading to the downfall of autocrats/dictators like Putin. My guess at the time was that Putin and his buddy Prigozhin had cooked up a scheme to blame the disaster that is the invasion of Ukraine on the generals, thus elevating Prigozhin. Then, Putin could resign, Prigozhin, a Putinist hardliner, could become president after a phony election, and Prigozhin could preemptively pardon Putin of all crimes. So, I thought this might be a false flag operation like the Moscow bombings that brought the bloody Putin to power.
Putin controls what is allowed to appear on Russian television. He allowed the broadcast of Prigozhin’s speech about how the generals had misled Putin into attacking Ukraine. And then, in the first official statement after the coup that wasn’t, his press secretary Peskov falsely claimed that no Russians and almost no Russian equipment were harmed by Prigozhin and that Prigozhin was under Putin’s protection. So, it sounded as though Putin was a) positioning Prigozhin as a hero and b) attempting to blame the disastrous war against Ukraine on disinformation from his generals.
Who controls what’s allowed on Ukrainian television? Who decides what political parties are allowed to exist in Ukraine? Why is Gonzalo Lira in prison? Why don’t more Americans know who Gonzalo Lira is?
James,
Ask the same questions about Russia? “Who decides what political parties are allowed to exist in Russia? Why do so many prominent people fall out of windows? Who is Putin’s leading opponent? Where is he now? Why was he given a prison sentence of 10 years? Why are the authorities holding a trial at his prison to add more years to his sentence? What were his crimes?”
Mr. Eales, that is a breathtakingly naive question. The midst of a war is not time when people abide by the ordinary rules. It certainly is not when people feel the need to allow free rein to those who are providing aid and support to the enemy. It is for that very reason that Reich-wingers invent perpetual war, ofc.
Do you actually think, Mr. Eales, that any country that has been subject to invasion has, in the midst of fighting that off, encouraged freedom to express how positive the invasion is? This is a simple matter of a hierarchy of needs. Unusual circumstances require unusual measures.
Two men break into my house. At one point, they both happen to be in the same room, ransacking it. I lock them in there. My wife awakens and comes up behind me. She says, “Aren’t you violating their freedom of movement?”
Your shock about Gonzalo Lira sounds just like that, Mr. Eales. Ukraine is at war with a brutal invader, and this moron was in Ukraine rallying people to the invader’s side.
Utterly ridiculous.
Your shock at the arrest and trial of Mr. Lira is utterly ridiculous for the same reason that the wife’s statement in that scenario is.
Our journalists have predictably called this a mutiny against Putin. They haven’t considered the possibility that it was a mutiny WITH Putin–a false flag operation intended to provide Putin with an off ramp after his disastrous mistake by blaming that mistake on others–those generals.
And yes, Risen is right that Prigozhin told part of the truth about the war that isn’t supposed to be called a war. Why would Putin allow this truth to be aired? Well, . . .
But, ofc, this stuff could be changing even as we speak. Honor among thieves is the stuff of stories (of medieval Romances, of Japanese pillowbooks, of American movies about noble mobsters), not of reality.
It could also be the case that Putin made this plan with Prigozhin (we’re going to blame the generals) to lure the latter into doing something (the semi-coup against the generals) that would provide a pretext for eliminating Prigozhin and then folding of all Wagner forces into the Russian military. So, a doubly false flag.
I don’t know if Prigozhin’s tirade will have any impact on right wing extremists in the US, but it has had some positive impact on Biden’s polling. He led the West and helped unite allies behind Ukraine. History will show he was on the right side of this war by defending Ukraine and the rest of Europe from Putin’s land grab. Biden has dared to take a stand that Obama refused to take.
Great point, RT.
In the U.S., any individual voicing an anti-war opinion is likely to called a right wing extremist! (Lockheed Martin, Northrup Grumman, and Raytheon thank you for your service.)
James ,
Like you, I am anti-war. I hate war.
That’s why I have repeatedly called on Putin to stop his war on Ukraine. Ukraine did not invade Russia. Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine. He has systematically destroyed apartment buildings, schools, hospitals, shopping malls, libraries, cultural centers.
Yes, stop the war! Russians, go home!
Claiming to be anti-war while supporting the spending of more than $100 billion on a NATO/US proxy war against Russia in Ukraine is a bold move! Has there ever been a country at war that didn’t claim to be playing defense?
Ukraine is not “playing defense.” It was invaded by Russia. Do you think Ukraine invaded Russia? Only one man can stop this war: the one who started it. Why won’t he?
Most of the Russian people may not know this fact since Putin controls what the media reports in Russia, but NATO and the EU military alliances are defensive in nature. The only time NATO or the EU military alliance would be obligated to fight would be if one or more of the member states was attacked first like the United States was on 9/11 by terrorists working out of Afghanistan. That’s why Putin was throwing nuclear war threats around after Sweden, Norway and Finland applied to join NATO/EU after Russia invaded Ukraine. I read that Finland has been accepted and is now a member. Sinde Russia doesn’t share a border with Sweden or Norway, to invade those two countries, Putin would have to pull off an amphibious assault or attack Finland, triggering the NATO/EU alliance to help defend Finland.
Norway does share a tiny border of a little over 100 miles with Russia at its northern tip, but at least they had the good sense to join NATO. Voters need to realize that most of the rhetoric from the extreme right candidates generally supports isolationism. A right wing leader would likely undermine our standing in the world and all the effort that the Biden administration has made to defend democracy.
Though I still cannot forgive him for his opposition to Medicare for All, I must admit that Biden has been a great president, a much better president than I thought he would be. Unfortunately, he has always been gaffe-prone and had to overcome severe speech problems to become a successful politician, and he is now an elderly man, and these problems are worse than ever. The sad fact is that US voters are ageist and have childish notions about what makes a great leader (I think you could sit down and have a beer with him; he’s not afraid to say it how it is; etc.). They are like Trump, whose key consideration for choosing among candidates for a job is whether someone looks the part–is, in his words, “right out of central casting.” Biden looks and acts now like an extremely elderly person. I have known people who, in their 80s, were extraordinarily vigorous physically and mentally, and I’ve known folks who in their 60s seemed really ancient. Well, Biden appears ancient, for all his acumen, wisdom, and experience, and this does not bode well for the upcoming election, not given our electorate. (Remember that Gerald Ford never could live down having stumbled walking off an airplane and having hit someone with a golf ball.) And Biden can’t step aside in favor of Harris because she is almost universally disliked, which seems to be the case generally with powerful women in sexist America, which seems to have Daddy issues.
So, going into this election, we’ve got a problem. We need a new Democratic frontrunner. Newsom would be a great choice.
Now is the time for Biden to step aside and serve in an advisory capacity.
Part of Biden’s image comes from the ageism in the media that selects material to make Biden appear weak or unstable. I don’t agree with some of this domestic policies either, but I think he deserves credit for restoring some of the faith that Europe felt was lost under Trump. Europe is still nervous, and the EU is considering more nuclear weapons in the event the US will not support them, if attacked. Norway is nervous as it is a small country with lots of oil that Russia would like to grab. In fact, there’s a TV series on one of the streaming platforms with a hypothetical story of Russia taking over Norway. It’s called ‘Occupied.’
I’ve become a Biden convert despite my vehement disagreement on education and Medicaid policy. Any sober look at the American political landscape now must admit that the days of great progressive reforms are nowhere in sight. Doesn’t mean they might not be in the future, just that there’s nothing realistic now. So Democratic politics will measure success by two things in the future: holding line on key issues — something the past year in the Court has demonstrated is not nothing, and having incremental victories to benefit broader constituencies, even when large portions of them oppose them and will go kicking and screaming when they are implemented.
republican success since 1980 is less about ideology, economics, or war than about fighting the same political and legislative battles over and over again to take up all the available oxygen. Schedules are meaningless. The DNC and most Democrats have never realized it. So-called moderate, “independent” voters think they’re being statesman-like by being “swing votes,” but all they do is perpetuate the status quo or make it worse by jumping right.
Biden has proven himself to be a skilled leader, knowing when to pick his fights, winning victories no one believes will happen. But his is an incrementalist, and I think, at the governing level, that is the best we can expect, probably for the rest of our lifetimes. As much as I want an in your face president like Newsom, he has other, I believe more important roles to play now. Let’s check back with him in four or eight years.
I think Biden is accustomed to being underestimated. Despite the messy departure from Afghanistan, Biden has done a good job on global affairs.
President Biden deserves the nomination. If for any reason he decides not to run, I would like to see the Dems embrace Sheldon Whitehouse.
lol Greg B, where did your brain go?? Skilled leader, omg how embarrassing of an assessment on someone who cannot coherently speak a sentence, can barely walk, ride a bike or even know what year it is. CIA-led media has been covering and lying for brainwashed people like yourself millions of others. Republicans are not so great. left has destroyed country.
Did you miss 2023 State of the Union speech? Biden was coherent when he got Republicans to acquiesce to no cuts to Medicare. That was not on the Teleprompter.
Josh, unlike you, Greg B has actual experience in politics at the federal level, and he brings this experience to his assessments. As does Biden.
“left has destroyed country”
Do tell. Please elaborate. That should be amusing.
Left media dividing country on lies, russia, vaccines, race etc
censoring 99% republicans or people with a different view
kicking people with opposing views off college campuses
education is a disaster, the curriculum, critical thinking non existent
left policies on energy and much more is causing our country to suffer
inflation all time high under this admin in nearly 3 years