While the general public’s attention has been captured all week by the disappearance and implosion of a private ocean submersible filled with billionaires, significant developments in the Russia-Ukraine war have unfolded.
These developments include a surprise financial aid award from the Department of Defense, an internal civil war developing within the Russian military, led by prominent warlord Yevgeny Prigozhin, and an announcement by JP Morgan and Blackrock of a “Ukraine Development Fund.”
Early last week, the Pentagon revealed an accounting error that resulted in an additional $6.2 billion being freed up for assistance to Ukraine in its ongoing fight against Russian advances.
In a separate incident, Russia is grappling with a massive internal military conflict. Yevgeny Prigozhin, the leader of the private military company Wagner and a former close ally of Russia President Vladimir Putin, turned against the Kremlin. Prigozhin publicly blames the Russian government for a deadly missile attack on one of Wagner’s training camps in Bakhmut, Ukraine, and he has vowed retribution.
President Putin addressed the nation in an early morning televised speech, denouncing Prigozhin’s advances as “treason” and vowing not to back down, warning of the risk of civil war and saying he will crush the mutiny by the man who started out at Putin’s chef.
The situation rapidly escalated into armed confrontations, with Wagner’s forces seizing control of a military headquarters in Rostov-on-Don in southern Russia, and capturing facilities further north in Voronezh, located in southwestern Russia, according to the Times of London.
Prigozhin’s rebel army, estimated to consist of 25,000 fighters, is reportedly marching toward Moscow, aiming to overthrow Russia’s military leadership.
The exact arrival time of the Wagner forces in Moscow remains uncertain, with estimates ranging from four to 20 hours. Recent sightings of Wagner forces near the region of Lipetsk suggest that the rebel army is rapidly approaching the capital, according to international media outlets. Unconfirmed reports said Wagner’s fighters have passed through Lipetsk, just 300 miles from Moscow. Readers are reminded that all of the reporting on war in real time is unreliable and subject to disinformation.
Two more developments in the tension include a report that a Russian spy plane, an IL-18, was shot down by anti-aircraft forces belonging to the Wagner group. The Times of London reports that Putin may have flown out of Moscow with two private jets: “There is confusion about Putin’s whereabouts after reports that two of his private jets took off today.”
FlightRadar24, a website that tracks aircraft movement, reports that GNSS jamming is strong in and around Moscow and St Petersburg. This occurs when a radio signal is deployed that makes GPS devices unable to determine the position of an aircraft.
If there’s war, then there’s money to be made. In the financial world, Financial Times reported on June 19 that BlackRock and JPMorgan Chase are working with the Ukrainian government on a reconstruction bank that would to “steer public seed capital into rebuilding projects that can attract hundreds of billions of dollars in private investment. The Ukraine Development Fund remains in the planning stages and is not expected to fully launch until the end of hostilities with Russia. But investors will have a preview this week at a London conference co-hosted by the British and Ukrainian governments.”
But with Putin’s government and war effort in turmoil, it appears the investment opportunity, which will no doubt include taxpayer funds.
“The World Bank estimated in March that Ukraine would need $411bn to rebuild after the war, and recent Russian attacks have driven that figure higher. The Kyiv government engaged BlackRock’s consulting arm in November to determine how best to attract that kind of capital, and then added JPMorgan in February. Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced last month that the country was working with the two financial groups and consultants at McKinsey. No formal fundraising target has been set but people familiar with the discussions say the fund is seeking to raise low-cost capital from governments, donors and international financial institutions and leverage it to attract between five and 10 times as much private investment,” Financial Times reported last week.
Bwaahaha. The murderous thug Putin and his band of thieves are on the run. This could not have happened to a more deserving dictator.
Kwazy. Am I reading the Babylon Bee?
We are going to deeply regret getting sucked into Ukraine.
Biden’s lasting legacy will be how he managed to destabilize the world in less than three years.
Oh how satisfying and just this is. So glad to see this autocrat finally getting a taste of his own crazy medicine. Of course, I’m sure the scores of Putin apologists here on MRAK will come to his defense; either that or cry, but what about Biden?!
The bankers (not the locals) are playing for all the marbles here, and every single time.
The information warfare subsection of unrestricted warfare is in full swing right now.
Hard to know what is REALLY going on. One source that is pouring out information on this Russia thing right now is: ‘https://t.me/beholdisraelchannel
Everytime Brandons heinous corruption surfaces a new crisis takes the spotlight, I’m jonesing for UFO/aliens next!
Will the U.S. and its allies step up and back the rebels? Civil wars are the dirtiest conflicts, the U.S. endured 5 years of fending off and attacking the confederate south then ran over them in the end thanks to the persistence of President Lincoln.
Will Ukraine take over Russia?, this may be a every day news story for years to come.
What you are actually referring to is a man (Lincoln) who became a tyrant to keep the south from leaving.
Lincoln basically raped the Constitution and thrust the US in a long, ugly bloody war. He ordered the invasion of a sovereign nation, committing multiple acts of war, and being the man in charge of multiple war crimes against civilians.
If done today, Lincoln would be seen as a modern Putin and potentially hung for crimes against humanity.
History. Find books written before 1980 and see the bigger picture.
Sounds like you went to the same Atlanta Georgia schools as my neighbor.
He was also in favor of shipping the enslaved to central America or Brazil.
Defending the confederacy. Lovely. The Civil War, as it was rightly described by Lincoln, was a war between two different kinds of Christians: those that thought it was OK to own other human beings, and those that didn’t. Don’t believe me? Read the ordinances of secession of just about any of the confederate states. Texas for example mentioned “the debasing doctrine of the equality of all men.” And you think the problem was Lincoln?
Avenger;
At 4:30 a.m. April 12, 1861, confederate troops fired on Ft. Sumter S. Carolina, in 34 hours U.S. surrenders.. Lincoln held the union together asserting, ”A House Divided Will Not Stand”, pursued the offensive till confederate General lee surrenders at Appomattox.
The war was fought over states rights and Lincoln freed the slaves only to win the war.
In my opinion had the confederates won, at present there would be several nations in N. America like Africa.
MA, except the South Carolinians fired the first shots.
The Southerners argue that Lincoln was fortifying the Fort, but first salvos came from the South.
“The War of Northern Aggression”
Tough weekend for Trump, Tucker, RFK Jr. and all the rest of the Putin defenders.
JFK, the USA’s Military and its people thought having Russian Nukes 90 miles away in Cuba was unacceptable. Having NATO Nukes on Russia’s border would be akin to Russia having Nukes on our Canadian or Mexican border(s). Those facts don’t necessarily make a person Pro Putin…
We did have them in Turkey. Close enough?
Interesting collection here. Trump AND RFK jr in the same bag…I would like to point out that the democrat party has a long and well documented love affair with Russia (remember Bernie Sanders) and communism. At Yalta Roosevelt called Stalin “Uncle Joe”. Isn’t RFK jr, one of yours, Sebastian??
The bigger question: if Putin falls, who/what comes next?
A scared despot with nukes can do really dangerous things. A warlord who takes power by force equally so.
Russia isn’t a country with a long history of peaceful transition of power.
Crud. Don’t Americans need our own funds in support of our own nation? Once in a while?
DING! DING! DING! America First!
Ukraine is a money laundering facility. Why else would the U.S. spend billions of dollars fighting a proxy war there? Do you really believe the us has an interest in protecting any nations sovereignty? People need to look into how this conflict started during the Obama presidency. Black rock is taking down America….bit by bit and this administration is fully aware.
Ps. I want the Madison House back. I never said the Ukraine could have it. Was it a freebee from the dips in Congress, again? Americans want to know.
Just more propaganda….
Something very big is about to happen – the ultimate diversion.
The same Putin that was talking trash about Alaska being his!!
It’s a good distraction for Israel, if the heat momentarily turns inward on Magog the ancient name for the descendants of present day Russia. The turmoil slows down prophesy a bit.
I am a direct descendent of James Madison. I want the house back or reparations.
So lemme get this straight…6.2 billion just found and the mercenary chief flips. Ok, got it
Yep. Actually, the whole thing has been called off ’cause the dood and pooty ran the media op, and now they are counting the loot. The double crossers have been double crossed. Lindsay Graham is trembling.
Likely as anything…
Psyops.
Okay…. reading the comments and I didn’t see anyone chiming in on who’s actually behind this Wagner leader dude and financing him. I mean, c’mon… all of the billions of cash and equipment sent to Ukraine and they’re still getting their rear ends handed to them by Pootie-Poot. So, lets use the CIA and convince this Yevgeny Prigozhin guy to take his fighters, attempt to take Moscow and the palace. We’re almost ALWAYS behind another countries coup. If we can’t get Ukraine to get Pootie-Poot, lets get a good ol’civil war going.
This is a dangerous discussion point you talked about regarding that Russia officials are blaming or insinuating Israel’s secret service intelligence have something to do with the rebellion
Yevgeny Prigozhin To retreat to Belarus where he will no doubt succumb to an unfortunate ingestion of radioactive poison, just like many other Putin enemies. The world will take notice but, it will also move onward while BlackRock & JP Morgan (and let’s not forget about “The Big Buy”) rake in ‘gillions’ in commissions, fees, kickbacks, etc on the rebuilding of Ukraine, most likely at the expense of the American Taxpayer, while US Senators & Reps get bought-off at $10K a pop.
It’s just how the world works.
This may the beginning of the end of Putin. The divide within Russia’s military is exactly what the Russian civilians have been hoping for.
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Great reporting and superbly written piece, Suzanne. Your writing style is so, so, so much better than say, that of Dermot Cole…..last of the surviving little self-righteous Cole trolls.
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