June 28, 2023:
Information Clearing House
-- The U.S. propaganda
campaign that
falsely claims that Russia
has been weakened by Wagner's armed mutiny
continues. While citing only 'western'
intelligence affiliated sources the
Washington Post headlines
Putin’s standing as global strongman in jeopardy
after revolt. Where please is evidence for
that?
The New York Times assists in a
useless attempt to
sow fear and doubt on the Russian side:
A senior Russian general had advance
knowledge of Yevgeny Prigozhin’s plans to
rebel against Russia’s military leadership,
according to U.S. officials briefed on
American intelligence on the matter, which
has prompted questions about what support
the mercenary leader had inside the top
ranks.
The officials said they are trying to
learn if Gen. Sergei Surovikin, the former
top Russian commander in Ukraine, helped
plan Mr. Prigozhin’s actions last weekend,
which posed the most dramatic threat to
President Vladimir V. Putin in his 23 years
in power.
Gen. Sergei Surovikin of course knew that
something was up with Wagner. The whole Russian
leadership knew of it. Orders were obviously
given for everyone to stand down and to let
Prigozhin do what he had planned to do.
There was zero action taken by the border
guards, the internal security force Rosguardia,
by the police and the Russian military. That is
unexplainable unless there was an order from
very high up to step back instead of seeking a
fight. President Putin's primary aim was to
avoid unnecessary casualties which he largely
achieved.
Are You Tired Of
The Lies And
Non-Stop Propaganda?
One miscalculation happened. Wagner had a
mobile Pantsir-1 air defense system that tried
to cover its convoys on their trip towards
Moscow. Several Russian helicopters and a plane
where shot down when they came too near to them.
It seems that the Pantsirs were a surprise.
Wagner was not supposed to have them:
🌻 Fertilizer Finder 🌻 - @ManiacMagic1 -
19:38 UTC · Jun 27, 2023
A source in the Russian Defense Ministry
reports that neither the Ministry of Defense
nor the Tula machine-building plant "Scheglovsky
Val" sold Yevgeny Prigozhin and his firms
the Pantsir S-1 anti-aircraft missile system
worth more than $14,000,000. How the "Pantsir"
ended up in the possession of the terrorist
organization "PMC Wagner" and whether the
governor of the Tula region Alexei Dyumin is
involved in this, are now being investigated
by the investigators of the GVSU of the ICR
and the SU of the FSB.
Embedded video
The source above is pro-Ukrainian so this
might be another false claim intelligence play
but I think there is some truth to it. Russian
air defenses in Ukraine work in an integrated
environment where all systems from wide area
surveillance and long range defense down to the
short range Pantsirs are integrated. Under such
a system it never made sense to give Wagner
their own independent air defenses. It would
instead be provided air cover by the Russian
army.
As soon as the Pantsir was observed within
the Wagner convoy the Russian military should
have shut down the air space near Wagner's
route. That it did not immediately do so was a
mistake that cost it several capable pilots.
There is still the open question of how many
Wagner people were actually involved in the
affair. History Legend
has counted the transport equipment in the
various convoys and estimates 1,500 to 2,000.
The number seems reasonable. It means that large
majority of the current 20,000 Wagner fighters
did not take part in the affair.
In his latest speech Putin said that
Prigozhin catering business with the army as
well as his other business will now come under
scrutiny. There was without doubt some
over-billing and fraud involved. Prigozhin
should have know that under Putin's regime
oligarchs are not allowed to intervene in
politics. Putin successfully fought against
those oligarchs who tried as soon as he came to
power. Prigozhin's attempt to get Defense
Minister Shoigu and General Gerasimov fired was
such an intervention. It will likely
cost him his business.
Yesterday there was a Russian missile attack
on a hotel complex in Kramatorsk:
The missile tore into the crowded Ria Lounge
restaurant at dinnertime on Tuesday, setting
off a large blaze that burned for more than
two hours. By Wednesday afternoon, the
Ukrainian authorities said that 10 people
had been confirmed dead — including
14-year-old twin sisters — and 61 others
were wounded."
Video from the scene taken immediately after
the event show English speaking men with the one
helping a wounded
exposing a quad angle tattoo with the number
3 written in it on his right arm (see at 7 sec
in).
![](https://www.moonofalabama.org/16i/3rdranger-s.jpg)
bigger
This is said
to be a sign of the
3rd Ranger Battalion of the U.S. army which
is a part of the U.S. special operation
forces.
Another
video taken during rubble clearing at night
has a (British?) English speaker saying "Look
what these bastards are doing to this country.
There's soldiers under this rubble all over."
This seems to confirm that the hotel complex
and its restaurant were not exclusively used for
civilian purposes but housed and catered to
foreign soldiers.