Apologies for running tweet-heavy for a while, but the weekend's craziness in Russia when the fog of war combined with the fog of mutiny to bring visibility pretty close to zero for a while was one of those moments where Twitter at its best (which still exists despite Musk's efforts) is invaluable.
If you can follow the right people, you sit in the corner while some of the sharpest experts in the field discuss the situation and point you to the best reporting. The hard part is finding these people, fortunately, Josh Marshall has taken care of that.
You can of course read write-ups in the standard publications. But what I’m doing is watching these two curated lists I created more than a year ago to follow the Russo-Ukraine War. Here’s one on the conflict generally and here’s another focused specifically on military analysts. While this current situation is not the Ukraine War proper, you want to hear from the same people generally. And of course it is deeply related to it.
First off, a reminder that this is war criminal on war criminal violence.
Yep. @SecBlinken is right. And so weakening or dissolving of #Wagner is a win for many countries, not just Ukraine, and a loss for thugs around the world. https://t.co/UhXo0jCdcY
— Michael McFaul (@McFaul) June 25, 2023
Which is why no winners seems like a pretty good outcome
In Russia, everyone lost yesterday — Prigozhin, Putin, the military and above all the Russian state that has shown itself to be so vulnerable and weak. My day-after analysis in @WSJ https://t.co/kZGaPbxQGE
— Yaroslav Trofimov (@yarotrof) June 25, 2023
Also, a reminder that any mutiny/coup where the people attacking the government get to walk away does not send a message of strength.
Thread on what we have learned from the Prigozhin mutiny about many memes of the Ukraine war-- "off ramps", "saving face:, "rat in the corner," "Putin will never back down" and "escalation": https://t.co/L8J4MM3Xzw
— Michael McFaul (@McFaul) June 25, 2023
Parody site, but still...
BREAKING: Putin amends treason law, only former convicts who run catering businesses can shoot down Russian military helicopters without punishment pic.twitter.com/pMeg7jfqUJ
— Sputnik (@Sputnik_Not) June 25, 2023
They shot down aircraft! Tough to say bygones when people are in prison for holding up blank signs or because their kid drew a double plus ungood picture in school.
— Helen Kennedy (@HelenKennedy) June 25, 2023
Great must read from @JuliaDavisNews on post-Prigozhin mutiny Russian state controlled media reaction.
— Mark Toth (@MCTothSTL) June 25, 2023
Contradictory as ever, they praise #Putin for cutting a deal to end crisis ASAP, while bemoaning #Prigozhin’s head wasn’t pierced by a bullet as a better way to end it. https://t.co/cEPoAVMhJQ
This is another thing Putin screwed up. Killing Prigozhin is now a risk. Lots of dangerous people are loyal to him, even some inside the army/government. Prig has a powerful narrative - filthy rich Kremlin leaders with kids abroad are sending Russia’s youth to be slaughtered.
— John Sipher (@john_sipher) June 25, 2023
It would be futile to believe that things can go back to normal in Russia. The reality is that there is no normal to go back to. Fine column by @gideonrachman
— Ben Hall (@hallbenjamin) June 25, 2023
The Putin system is crumbling https://t.co/YKo5ygXdKW
‘The People Are Silent’: The Main Reason the Wagner Mutiny Bodes Ill for Putin https://t.co/bexaXj5nZr via @politico
— Leon Aron (@AronRTTT) June 25, 2023
“Two people close to the Kremlin, speaking on condition of anonymity, described the crisis as first and foremost the product of a dysfunctional system of governance verging on chaos — vividly captured in the Russian word bardak.” https://t.co/Gp7B2pzWEp
— Laura Rozen (@lrozen) June 25, 2023
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