he s a leader of the wagner group, which are soldiers for hire, violent mercenaries with reputation for ruthless violence. they have fought for russia in ukraine and in conflicts across central africa in the middle east. saturday, prigozhin stage in our midst mutiny leading his mercenaries on a march that threatened to reach moscow coming within about 120 miles of the capitol. the crisis ended when prigozhin agreed to pull back his forces in a deal it allowed him to leave russia and avoid arrest. well rebellion appear to be aimed at ousting russia s military leaders, they dealt a massive brew blow to putin strongman image. we ve seen more cracks emerge in the russian facade. it is too soon to tell exactly where they go and when they get there but certainly we have also have new questions that putin is going to be addressing in the weeks and months ahead. this is a challenge coming from within to putin and that s where his focus has been. it s going to unfold over weeks and
do you think the united states misread vladimir putin? trio. do you think the united states misread vladimir putin?- misread vladimir putin? no, i don t think misread vladimir putin? no, i don t think the misread vladimir putin? no, i don t think the united - misread vladimir putin? no, i don t think the united states | don t think the united states misread putin. i mean, iwas the ambassador in russia from 2014 to 2017, and i got there six months after the russians had invaded crimea. so i don t think anybody had any illusions. to the extent that there was a surprise, it was that he decided, in 2022 in february, to go all in and to throw 100,000 of his forces into a fight in what has clearly now evidently been a strategic miscalculation of the first order. and it s not only not achieved his objectives, but russia, i think, is in a difficult position. we ll see. it s difficult position. we ll see. it s always easier all the military officers will tell you to be on the defensive rat
no, i don t think the united states misread putin. i mean, i was the ambassador in russia from 2014 to 2017, and i got there six months after the russians had invaded crimea. so i don t think anybody had any illusions. to the extent that there was a surprise, it was that he decided, in 2022 in february, to go all in and to throw 100,000 of his forces into a fight in what has clearly now evidently been a strategic miscalculation of the first order. and it s not only not achieved his objectives, but russia, i think, is in a difficult position. we ll see. it s always easier all the military officers will tell you to be on the defensive rather than on the offensive. so there s a tough road ahead for the ukrainians. but at the same time, we re seeing inside of russia notjust the prigozhin uprising, but we re seeing more and more evidence of, i think, average russians asking themselves, what is this about? what are we actually
The mutiny by the Wagner Group state-sponsored mercenary force has hastened the process of Russia’s state collapse. Chaos and confusion are spreading among the power elites in the midst of a losing war in Ukraine. Unfortunately, instead of planning for regime collapse and state rupture in Russia, Washington is standing on the sidelines as a neutral observer.
course. they have access to internet, they back at the social media and you saw the reaction by every russians in the wagner group who were on the march. they were not booing or hissing these guys, they were welcoming them in some ways. not because they necessarily support prigozhin but because there is a great discontent right now about the war. and that s the thing that i think the russian general is worried about most, as general mccaffrey said, their forces have not been diminished missing if you can t weigh but prigozhin uprising has exposed the lie of war. but this was not actually about a threat from ukraine, the threat from nato. prigozhin said exposed putin s justification for this. the courage for this. about whether there, the confidence of the leadership. this is the only one general, should the white