Russian intelligence is operating a systematic program to launder pro-Kremlin propaganda through private relationships between Russian operatives and unwitting US and western targets, according to newly declassified US intelligence.
— Read on www.cnn.com/2023/08/25/politics/us-intel-russia-propaganda/index.html
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Prigozhin’s death weakens the nationalist wing pushing for a more aggressive war—and may ease pressure on Putin for a continued, expanded conflict.
— Read on www.thedailybeast.com/alexander-vindman-prigozhins-death-could-speed-peace-in-ukrainewe will quickly learn if Wagner has the capacity to seek retribution against Putin and his allies. Moreover, the death of Prigozhin will suppress other Putin challengers, and warn those that do come against Putin that if you come at the king, you best not miss.
It seems that Wagner is decapitated, but thousands of well-armed fighters remain in Russia, Africa, and Syria, with 6,000 fighters reportedly taking refuge in Belarus as part of Belarusian President and dictator Alexander Lukashenko’s brokered peace to end the insurrection.
Statements by Wagner mercenaries issued on social media channels indicate their intent to take revenge on those responsible for an attack on Prigozhin. The conditions seem ripe for more violence and Wagner reprisals. But with the Wagner leadership wiped out, the capacity of the private military company to threaten the Putin regime is dubious and greatly diminished. Within the Russian Ministry of Defense this is likely seen as a fitting end to Prigozhin and Wagner after Wagner forces shot down six aircraft and killed dozens of military personnel in their march on Moscow.
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The Republican-led House Judiciary Committee is expected to open a congressional investigation into Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis as soon as Thursday, a source tells CNN – the same day former President Donald Trump is slated to surrender at the county jail after being charged for participating in schemes to meddle with Georgia’s 2020 election results.
— Read on www.cnn.com/2023/08/24/politics/house-republican-conference-trump-defense/index.html -
The oil company whose vinyl chloride poisoned East Palestine gave $2 million to the Senate GOP as lawmakers watered down and stalled proposed reforms.
— Read on www.levernews.com/the-corporate-cash-behind-the-train-safety-bills-derailment/ -
The internal emails show special agents in close communication with Oath Keepers leader Steward Rhodes.
— Read on www.citizensforethics.org/reports-investigations/crew-investigations/emails-reveal-secret-service-contacts-with-oath-keepers/ -
What will others in the Russian president’s circle do now?
— Read on www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/08/yevgeny-prighozin-putin-enemies-dead/675097/Excerpts
Vladimir Putin’s Russia has long been a land of mysterious deaths. In 1998, soon after he had been appointed head of the security services, Galina Starovoitova, a parliamentarian who believed in bringing democracy to Russia, was gunned down in the stairwell of her apartment building in St. Petersburg. In 2006, Anna Politkovskaya, a journalist who had learned too much about the Chechen wars that Putin used to propel himself to power, met the same fate in the stairwell of her apartment building in Moscow. In 2015, Boris Nemtsov, an outspoken critic of Putin’s presidency, was killed by an assassin only steps away from the Kremlin. Other critics barely survived. In 2020, Alexei Navalny, organizer of the only truly national anti-Putin political movement, fell critically ill on a flight from Tomsk to Moscow after being poisoned.
All of these victims were Putin’s formal opponents, people who spoke or wrote in opposition to the kleptocracy he built. Since Putin launched his full-scale invasion of Ukraine, a different class of victims—members of the Russian business elite who were perhaps insufficiently loyal or insufficiently keen on the war—have also begun to die in strange circumstances. In the year and a half that has passed since February 2022, two gas-industry executives were found dead with suicide notes. Three Russian executives were killed, alongside their wives and children, in what appeared to be murder-suicides. The body of the owner of a resort in Sochi was discovered at the bottom of a cliff. Another executive was found floating in a pool in St. Petersburg. Others have fallen out of windows or down staircases in Moscow, India, the French Riviera, and Washington, D.C.
But Prigozhin wasn’t an opponent of Putin; he helped create Putin. He wasn’t a critic of Putin’s kleptocracy; he built the Wagner mercenary group, which supported African and Middle Eastern dictators and exploited diamond mines on behalf of Moscow too. He also ran the Internet Research Agency, the organization that used hacking, leaking, and social media to help elect Donald Trump.
Putin needs something more spectacular: theatrical, public violence; violence of the kind that brings down a plane soon after takeoff in the middle of a sunny day; violence designed to terrify anyone who secretly wished for Prigozhin’s victory.
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WEDNESDAY 23 AUGUST 2023
Russia
- Prigozhin has been reported on the list of passengers in fatal plane crash. We do not know he was on the plane.
- He may have disappeared.
- Official government press releases and statements indicate that Prigozhin was on the plane.
- CNN reporter says that is as close a confirmation you can get, talking about state releases.
- CNN is reporting that there were other high level Wagner Group members on the plane.
- 1;31 PM
- He met with Putin shortly after the revolt. He then went to Africa.
- At a security forum, Sec. Blinken said almost joking that Russia had an “open window” strategy.
- It is possible that Putin just figured out how to replace Prigozhin and take over the Wagner Group operations.
- Col. Cedric Leighton on CNN. This is going to have bit effect on the war on Ukraine. Wagner was running the show in Bakhmut. He was responsible for that bright stop. If decimated, the group, significant effect on war effort. (Northeastern Ukraine will have trouble controlling).
- There are drone strikes in Moscow, the Russians appear to have been really on top of this story.
- Potential power struggle by those at top. Russian State Media.
- 1:38
- If Prigozhin was not on the plane, but it was shot down, Prigozhin needs to lay low to see what’s going on.
Newsweek (8/23/23)
- “Wagner Chief Prigozhin Reported Dead After Russian Force Shoot down Plane: 1:32 zpm
- (Note : This is a deceptive Headline because later in the article they say that they cannot confirm that the plane was shot down.)
- There were 10 passengers.
- The private plane was traveling from Moscow to St. Petersburg, according to Tass, the Russian state-sponsored media.
- There is another plane belonging to Prigozhin which landed near Moscow.
- The Kyiv Post is reporting that there will be another “March of Justice” by Wagner fighters if Prigozhin is really dead.
- Reports also indicate that a high-ranking commander and close Prigozhin ally, Dmitry Utkil, was also killed.
- Prigozhin had just released a new video put out by Gray Zone, teased a “mission” in Africa involving mercenaries and expanded footprint for Wagner.
Twitter
Anton Gerashchenko
- Wagner troops will try to get revenge on Putin and Shoigu for the death of Prigozhin.
- (Note: Earlier on television is was said that the plane had only one wing, but video released by Anton shows two wings all the way to the ground.)
- Russian Military Blogger: Prigozhin felt absolutely safe. He was on his way to negotiate about Africa. He was proposing a breakthrough.
Michael Weiss
- There are reminders on Twitter that the Russian elite does not understand the mood of the military and that the assassination will have “catastrophic consequences.”
Igor Sushko
- This stinks of Prigozhin’s own plot to disappear.
- Bodies of Yevgeny Prigozhin and Dmitry Utkin are reportedly found near crash site.
Dumb Russian Bot
- Surovikin is officially fired. We don’t know whether he’s still under house arrest.
Nina Cerfolio MD
- Putin commemorated the 80th anniversary of the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazy Germany in the Battle of Kursk.
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WEDNESDAY 23 AUGUST 2023
Russia
- Prigozhin has been reported on the list of passengers in fatal plane crash. We do not know he was on the plane.
- He may have disappeared.
- Official government press releases and statements indicate that Prigozhin was on the plane.
- CNN reporter says that is as close a confirmation you can get, talking about state releases.
- CNN is reporting that there were other high level Wagner Group members on the plane.
- 1;31 PM
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On the Culture of Conspiracy in America — Sarah Kendzior, author of “They Knew” and co-host “Gaslit Nation” — #200 – Nerd Farmer Podcast
— Read on nerdfarmpod.com/2023/08/21/on-the-culture-of-conspiracy-in-america-sarah-kendzior-author-of-they-knew-and-co-host-gaslit-nation-200/ -
One of Russia’s most advanced air defence systems was destroyed in a huge explosion in occupied Crimea, Ukraine’s intelligence services said.
Videos shot by a drone show a purported S-400 being struck on Wednesday morning in what would be Ukraine’s latest attacks far behind enemy lines.
“As a result of the explosion, the installation itself, the missiles installed on it and the personnel were completely destroyed,” Ukraine’s intelligence service said.
