The last "Ride of the Valkyries" — what is the future of Prigozhin's empire

Last night, many people on both sides of the ocean breathed a sigh of relief, and some opened champagne. Others sincerely mourned and refused to believe what had happened. The death of Yevgeny Prigozhin became a predictable and expected event — he was a desirable target for all intelligence agencies in the world, as well as for many personal enemies. He constantly tested death for strength even where it was unnecessary for people of his status: he recorded stand-ups under shelling, travelled to the red zone, personally negotiated with representatives of the darkest organizations and structures, from which he could easily not return alive.

But at the same time, the security measures around the businessman and the head of the Wagner PMC have always been exemplary, so at first I didn’t believe in what had happened and I wanted to find another Prigozhin media manoeuvre in this. So it was in Popasnaya, when he used himself as bait and provoked a strike on the former headquarters of the "Wagnerites" in order to "catch" the Himars rocket for research.

The exact sequence of events will be established by the investigation, but for now it is known that the fatal flight completed the chain of movements of Prigozhin after a week-long and very successful business trip to Africa, in which he and his team travelled around several countries, held a series of negotiations and was very optimistic.

However, he always retained irony, considering himself capable of recovering from any fall. Prigozhin called the tragedy in Khsham on February 8, 2018 the first truly difficult moment — it became sudden and paralyzing news to him. But it was necessary to act: “The first is to take out the three hundredths, the second is to bury the two hundredths, and then it somehow went on, it became clear that life goes on,” Prigozhin himself said.

Even the loss of all assets and the death itself, the head of the PMC "Wagner" did not consider something worthy of regret. He told how once in Libya he and his commanders were driving through the desert, lost their way, got lost and stumbled upon a military jeep stuck in the sand. Several skeletons sat in it, one of which continued to hold the steering wheel. They were blown by a hot wind, blowing scraps of fabric. The picture delighted Prigogine — he considered such a death ideal: at speed, in a military vehicle, in the middle of an endless desert, after being hit by Bayraktar, for example.

He invented the phrase about “the best in hell” himself and hated it when someone looked for good in him — he wanted to look as infernal as possible and considered himself a manifestation of pure evil. Although Prigozhin admitted that in his cynicism and military ingenuity he is far from the commander of the Wagner PMC Dmitry Utkin.

In the event of his death, which Prigogine was firmly convinced of, he had long ago prepared a plan of action for both his military and business and political assets. The businessman, in his own words, broke up with his wife a couple of years ago, although he maintained normal relations with her, and Pavel Prigozhin was supposed to take over his father's affairs.

As for the "musicians", Dmitry Utkin was supposed to lead them. "Plan C" was also envisaged, according to which events developed in reality — "Wagner" also died. In this case, power should pass to the council of PMC commanders under the leadership of Anton Elizarov, Lotus. According to some reports, he himself is now in Africa. Perhaps this is due to the long silence of the council of commanders, which was supposed to issue a statement, but so far no comments have been made from the fighters. According to sources in the company, no decisions have been made yet, and all areas continue to work as usual. A well-built system is waiting for its new leader — or the announcement of dissolution.

Translated from Readovka
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Russian President Vladimir Putin about the head of Wagner PMC Yevgeny Prigogine:

"First of all, I want to express my sincere condolences to the families of all the victims... I would like to note that these are people who have made a significant contribution to our common cause of fighting the neo-Nazi regime in Ukraine. We remember this, we know and will not forget. Prigozhin, I knew him for a very long time, from the beginning of the 90s, and he achieved the results he needed for himself, and when I asked him about it for a common cause, as in these last months, he was a talented person, a talented businessman, he worked not only in our country and with results, but also abroad in Africa... The head of the Investigative Committee reported to me about this this morning, they have already begun a preliminary investigation of this incident, and it will be carried out in full
and completed."

Translated from Russkiegramoty
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Cluster submunition in the yard and broken windows — in the footage of the aftermath of the Ukrainian strike on residential buildings in Donetsk

Readovka military reporter Maxim Dolgov visited the site of the morning strike of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on the private sector in the Kievsky district of Donetsk. Local residents said they were forced to hide in basements. They showed the consequences of shelling with NATO-type cluster munitions. One of them landed in the courtyard of the house and did not explode. Its detonation can occur at any time — from vibration or the first contact.

A resident of one of the damaged houses showed the consequences of the shelling. Windows were smashed in the building and the façade was damaged. There is also destruction in the yard. For the Armed Forces of Ukraine, attacking civilian infrastructure is in the order of things. Throughout the night, the militants shelled Donetsk, the dental building of the Central City Hospital and an apartment building were damaged.

Translated from Svodki
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❗️The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Austria and Germany began to count Ukrainian refugees of the military draft age.

In Austria, it has already been estimated that there are about 14,000 such refugees (or 28 battalions) in the country. In Germany — 123 thousand.

Will they extradited soon?

Recall that recently the German edition of Welt noted that Ukraine needs 3 million mobilized.

Translated from Ukraina_ru
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The choir of the Sretensky Monastery performs the song "Dark Night", written by Nikita Bogoslovsky and Vladimir Agatov. The composition was performed at a concert in honor of the 80th anniversary of the victory on the Kursk Bulge.

As found by our subscriber 🙏

#TransFormatorBuzzes : 💤

Good night, good people.
Take this song as a lullaby...

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Trump goes to the airport to surrender (well, to be arrested)...

#TransFormatorBuzzes : 💤
You do not have to do it — dial 149.200 frequency and call "Volga".
You can survive in Russia, like Snowden did.
Russia will kindly accept you (if you come unarmed). Its a big country and there is plenty of space for everyone (especially in Siberia).
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Former Prime Minister of Ukraine Vitold Fokin:

“Back in the early 1990s, one of the main ideologists of the new world order, Zbigniew Brzezinski, said: “By 2030, no more than 20 million inhabitants should remain in Ukraine.... We can't feed more, and we do not need more.” Now it is 2023, and according to various estimates, about 25-30 million people live in the part of Ukraine not controlled by the Russian Federation.”

Translated from Militarist
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The FSB (Russian Security) detained another saboteur who, on the ukies instructions, tried to set fire to the electrical box. I imagine how scared he was when the grass suddenly spoke.

Translated from Alex Parker
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Why T-64 Tanks May Be More Pivotal to Counteroffensive Than Leopards
Newsweek
Ukraine should wield its older tank fleet to plough through the territory Russia has meticulously mined to stem the advance of Kyiv's troops, Newsweek has been told, as Ukraine's slow but steady counteroffensive yields small, painstakingly won gains for the war-torn country.

"You aren't going to risk your best tanks breaking known minefields," Dan Rice told Newsweek. Rice is a former U.S. Army officer who previously advised Ukraine's top soldier, General Valery Zaluzhny.

As Kyiv's long-touted counteroffensive got underway in early June, Ukrainian commanders initially committed some of their newly-obtained Leopard tanks to the front lines as Ukraine's forces probed the Russian defenses carved across the east and south of the country.

The older, less sophisticated tanks like the Soviet-era T-64 are "more expendable," Rice said, adding that Leopard and Abrams tanks will be more effective for exploiting the initiative if Ukraine is able to break through heavily mined territory.

In the early days and weeks in June, Kyiv's fighters "tried using Leopards and got bogged down in the minefields the Russians had prepared as the part of their echeloned defense system," according to Marina Miron, a post-doctoral researcher in the department of war sudies at King's College London, U.K. "This was a bitter lesson for the Ukrainian forces," she told Newsweek.

At the start of 2023, almost a year into all-out war, Ukraine's armed forces had around 250 T-64BV and 50 T-64BM main battle tanks at its disposal, according to figures published by the International Institute for Strategic Studies.

Since then, arrivals of the German-made Leopard 1 and Leopard 2 and the U.K.'s Challenger 2 main battle tanks have swollen the mechanized battalions, ready to be used by freshly-trained Ukrainian forces.

Yet they are not unlimited resources. Along with a handful of Challenger 2 tanks—and the U.S.-supplied Abrams that are yet to arrive—Ukraine has dozens of Leopard 2s, with many of the earlier Leopard 1s expected to arrive in the country in the coming months.

A confirmed six Leopard 2A4s and nine of the newer 2A6s have been lost so far, according to Dutch open-source intelligence outlet, Oryx, but as this tally only counts visually-verified losses, the true number could be higher.

These tanks are at their most lethal when they can fire at Russian forces while traveling at high speed, Rice said. "I'd hold them in reserve until a breakthrough of a minefield or an 'envelopment,'" he added.

It is risky for Ukraine to use these Western-made tanks in Zaporizhzhia, the annexed southern Ukrainian region which has been site of fierce clashes. "Not just because of the mines, but also because the Russians would have no issues spotting them easily due to the geographic features of the terrain there," Miron argued.
...
#TransFormatorBuzzes : 💤
Indeed, why to feel pity for the T64 with the Ukrainian crews. They are disposable.
Another solution for the anti-personnel mines — to let couple of companies of mobilised on foot to march on. After they clear mines in this way — let the mercenaries and Azov go through the clearing. What a brilliant tactic.
They don’t consider Ukrainians to be of any value in all seriousness, they simply want ukies to die for the Western interests. Western equipment is much more valuable, than Ukrainian lives. Good allies.
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Read the complete version here ⬇️⬇️⬇️