Leader of Wagner mercenaries says forces entered Russian city of Rostov facing no resistance

ATGM 🚀@beehaw.org to World News@beehaw.org – 235 points – Leader of Wagner mercenaries says forces entered Russian city of Rostov facing no resistance
pbs.org

Rostov holds the HQ of the Russian ministry of defense, and is also a major logistics hub.

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The idea of a major nuclear power like Russia having a civil war is terrifying, but hopefully Ukraine will be able to take advantage of this.

This doesn’t sound like a civil war. This sounds like a shake up at most.

Oh, I agree. I think this will fizzle out before long. However, on the off chance this does blow up into a full-blown civil war, who knows whose hands the nukes are going to fall into?

That's what I was thinking. Push out all the Russian soldiers (or convince them to switch sides, which seems remarkably easy at this point) while Putin is otherwise occupied. That would end the war, and with so much else on his plate, Putin might think twice about restarting it.

Another Zar going down in another Rebellion, why not.

It doesn't necessary matter if the war criminal Prigozhin gets stomped, even if it happens quickly.

How long do we think Russia needs to stay distracted before Ukraine finds a chink in their armor?

Prigozhin is a monster and a war criminal.

But how much infighting do we think Russia can handle without collapsing on the front?

It seems like we are about to find out.

Wow. Last I read, Prigozhin was talking shit, but the Russian government wasn’t actually after him yet. I’d feel bad for him if he wasn’t such a scumbag.

This will be equal parts amusing and horrifying.

No one knows who or what would come out of a power vacuum, but history tells us it’s usually a more hardline and extreme result. With some of the reports coming out of more hawkish elements within the Russian government adding more and more pressure on Putin to take further measures in mind, it can be a major cause for concern.

The road to sanctions relief is paved with elections.

Just to be clear, it's the HQ for the southern region's Russian ministry of defense. Not the entire thing

It's also Rostov-on-Don and not Rostov, Yaroslavl.

Not sure if replacing Putin with Prigozjin will be an improvement.

The only hopeful improvement is that his reign would be more unstable and maybe the oligarchs don't support him. Like always, that means that innocent Russian civilians will take the brunt of the actual consequences.

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It would be hilarious (for us) if the Russian army attack on Wagner was actually orchestrated by Ukrainian Special Forces! "Here is a pallet of vodka, now please fire on these coordinates"!

I have a feeling he made it up as some sort of power grab, but it's hard to tell whats the truth out there. The fog of war is all over this chaotic situation. But if this chaos helps Ukraine take back territory, or even just breathe for a moment, that would be great.