“I will forgive an enemy, we might become friends later. What I will never forgive, is betrayal.” Vladimir Putin

The rise and fall of Yevgeni Prigoshin and PMC Wagner Prigoshin died in a plane crash. The plane was allegedly shot down by a Russian air defense missile

Prigoshin was seen just recently on a video clip somewhere in Africa. Obviously, he still had unfinished business to do with death. Putin knows that revenge is a dish best served cold.

Do you still remember when I told you that you won’t hear from me until the end of September? Well, I am still mad, but some things are just too good to pass on them. For example, when I can say I told you so.

I can’t pass on the opportunity to say some final words as Prigoshin has officially departed on his last trip. Not to Africa, though. His last trip leads him straight into the underworld. From there, none have returned thus far, and neither will he. Some things are bigger and more important than my hurt pride. This is such a moment. So, let’t get into it. The devil is, as you know, in the details.

I told you so! I love being right in general. Here, I love it even more. Justice was served. Yevgeny Prighoshin, the butcher of Bakhmut and the slave driver of Sudan and Central Africa, is dead! In my eyes, he is a monster. As always, though, we shouldn’t be too eager to deal out death and judgemement. He had his part to play. This part is now officially over.

I had assessed that either Vlad the terrible or Prigo won’t survive this year. The Russian fascist empire is a shark tank. Putin is the huge white shark. Prigoshin was more of a pet shark. One by one, Putin is coming for his enemies. The trap has snapped.

In Darkness at noon, the prison scene is based on a real scene in Seville. Evan Striker was imprisoned there. She had been imprisoned on the fictious charge of plotting to assassinate Stalin. Koestler 1940

Prigo went one step further. He didn’t just plot to push to Putin from his pedestal. He actually went for the kill. As we know, he didn’t reach his final destination. He is dead now. Putin won. Prigoshin lost.

You may succeed in silencing me, but that silence comes at a price, you may succeed in silencing one man, but the howl of protest from around the world will reverberate, Mr. Putin, in your ears for the rest of your life. Litvinenko a former victim of being murdered by Putin

This time, though, Putin went for a more blunt way of killing his former favorite oligarch and now adversary

This time, it was not poison. Prigo was not thrown out of a window either. Prigoshin a plane crash. This is a more spectacular way to end Prigo’s life. Of course, the Russian regime will deny that it has something to do with his death of the (former) Wagner boss. Anything else would be a huge surprise. This will be portrayed as a tragic accident in the Kremlin narrative. The Wagner graveyards will be destroyed. They will make way for strip club parking lots or something equally distasteful. The truth might be buried deep within the Ministry of Truth. This would fit into the phantasmagoric post-modern propaganda hell that Putin’s empire of mirrors has become.

Then there is also the option of a strong power move by Putin. The Kremlin could openly admit that the plane was shot down. Such a course of action will make it abundantly clear to not cross Putin ever again. Time will tell.

“We must protect reality, otherwise it will disappear” Hannah Arenth

Kai si teknon? You too, my son Brutus?

Prigoshin was sort of Putin’s Oligarch, and he started off as his chef cooked. He was Putin’s version of SA leader Roehm. Like Roehm, Prigo lost the duel. Pringles wanted revenge for the over 70k casualties his troops have suffered in Bakhmut alone. He aimed for Putin’s throne. The attempt to betray Vlad P. had already cost many men their lives. Now it was Yevgeny’s turn. Putin cares only about very few things. His throne. His life. The survival of his regime and his legacy. Prigoshin attacked all of these four pillars at once. That is an unhealthy idea. He paid the ultimate price. The gambit has failed.

Prigoshin seems to have forgotten. It is Putin’s empire, not the Yevgeni empire. Revolutions can only be made by the people and for the people. His hubris was his downfall. The 9th ring of hell is waiting.

I am certain Putin has taken out his little Macchiavelli book called the Prince. So, Putin knows mercenaries are cutthroats. Such men can’t be trusted, and they will betray you in a heartbeat if the money is right. Putin applies ever harsher and more brutal methods that could end up with another echo from the past. The Great Terror, Stalin’s purge. Totalitarian regimes follow an arithmetic progression of horror. They must commit ever more heinous and violent acts to assert their dominance. Putin rules with fear. A dictator that is not feared is not a dictator at all.

I will make an educated guess. This was only the start. Recently, several generals have either disappeared or died under mysterious circumstances. The next acts will be martial law, border closures, and general mobilisation. Putin won’t let his subjects escape again. The fascist turn is now almost complete.

In times of deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act. George Orwell

Army General Gennady Zhidko died at 58 “after a long illness” 6 days ago. This illness is likely called, betraying the dark lord. The murderous Czar sent out one of his underlings to pay his cold respect. The governor of Russia’s Khabarovsk territory Mikhail Degtyarev

“I was lucky to know this man, very attentive to the needs of a simple soldier and very demanding to the service. It is these commanders who are called commanders.”

We are digressing here. I am not back from my self-imposed writer exile to discuss dead generals or fires. Or to talk about Putin’s people who mysteriously keep on falling out of windows. We won’t even wonder where Peskov is. I haven’t heard from him in 6 days either. Maybe he is on vacation? He told the public that he wanted to cancel the elections because they were too expensive. That is not an option. Even a modern-day dictator needs some form of election. The regime needs to keep up the illusion of legitimacy.

In Russia, there is no rule of the law, only the law of its ruler. It is either kill or be killed.

Martin Luther King once said that the moral arc of the universe bends slowly towards justice.

Let’s talk about Yevgeni Prigoshin. Who may rot in hell for all I care. and hopefully, there is a hell because death is too good for him. It is too slow and merciful for such a vile and evil monster.

Here is the BBC report:

Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin was on the passenger list of a jet, which crashed, killing all on board, Russia’s civil aviation authority has said.

The Tass news agency said the plane, a private Embraer Legacy, caught fire on hitting the ground, adding that four bodies had already been found. Some rumors have it that Russian air defense has shot down the plane in a tragic “accident.”

There was truth, and there was untruth, if you knew the truth and even if you had to shout it against the whole world, you were not mad. George Orwell

I want to state that the death of the other 7 passengers and the 3 pilots is a tragedy. Anna from Ukraine speculates that Utkin the second later and a major war criminal and nazi was also on board. If that is true, then I am not sorry for this one either. The dictator Vladimir Putin has dismissed General Sergei Surovikin as head of Russia’s Aerospace Forces. He was a loyalist of Prigoshin and supported the mutiny. You would not want that guy to be in charge of your air and missile forces if you plan to shoot down, Prigoshin, right?

Utkin can also rot in hell for all the innocent people he had killed or tortured or who died on his command. As for the death of Prigoshin. Well, I can’t muster any sympathy or bravery for this man. Neither pity nor can I say I am particularly sad. The world has become a better and more peaceful place. So? Ehm. Thanks, Mafia regime in Moscow, I guess? Prigo was a dead man walking since January. This is not surprising. Putin’s mafia government strikes again. They still have some nukes as well, sadly. That complicates things.

We should not speak ill of the dead. I can’t help but gloat, though. Konstantin from inside Russia also confirms that Prigoshin is dead. So does the Russian government.

At first, this sounded strange to me. Prigoshin was seen on tape just yesterday. In Africa.

He said, and I quote loosely: It is 50 degrees here just how I like it. We are back to bring peace justice to the continent fighting against ISIS, Al Quaeda, and other bandits. I guess he meant his own Wagner forces. Well, I guess this is the last lie we will ever hear from him.

Speaking of lies. The truth is the best lie. No one believes it normally. A truth is easily killed. A well told lie is eternal. Prigo told a lot of truths lately. This also may have contributed to his demise

For example, Prigo told us that he had over 70k Wagner forces under his command. He claimed that over 20k of them are now dead, and over 40k are wounded. Among other things, of course, he led a mutiny against Putin, which surely didn’t help to prolong his life.

“Shoiiiguuu” “Geraaasimoov” Prigoshin was unhappy with Wagner’s ammo supplies

Prigoshin is removed from the geo-political chessboard. He ended like all tyrants end.

This game in the shadows is far from over. Putin went after Strelkov. He went after Prigoshin. The Czar will go after every single Turbopatriot or dissenter who dared to raise his voice to demand changes to his glorious plans.

Putin is the state. No one else is the state, but him. Putin despises men who achieve anything on their own without being appointed by Putin to their positions

That is a lesson his elite will now learn the very hard way. Make no mistake. We may laugh about Putin’s failing war in Ukraine. In the end, he is a killer. He is an ice-cold killer. He kills with relentless brutality. Loyalty or death, these are the two options. In the game of thrones, you either win or you die.

The death of Prigoshin and the way it was done is peculiar

This speaks volumes. Putin must have been very angry at this little man. He made him. How dare he defy him? Let alone attempt to betray him? Mutiny against him? Make him look like a fool in front of the public? Threaten his rule? Threaten the security of his regime? That is unacceptable for such a man who thinks it is his divine destiny to lead Russia back to greatness.

Well, then let the hunger games begin. I will go now and search for Peskov. Maybe he hides inside a vodka bottle? Or is he also on his way to meet with Charon? I mean, how dare Peskov say such stuff about the elections? I hope Stalin eh Putin knew about his utterance beforehand. Otherwise, this might be a very unhealthy utterance. Maybe even his last. Time will tell. Memento mori.

Russiae Imperium delendum est. Chris Snow

Quick Medium writer update:

I have decided that I can’t leave you completely stranded. I can’t leave Ukraine completely stranded. Medium and I will part ways, that much is clear for me. The timeline is not clear yet. The path will lead me to Substack. I have something planned together with other writers. I will inform you in detail about this idea in September.

I will give irregular updates until then. I have always said this is not about the money. It truly isn’t. This is about Ukraine. Principles. The objective truth. It is about freedom of thought, freedom of expression and about the liberty to tell others what they may not want to hear. Democracy and not letting an evil empire destroy the future of the free and democratic world also plays a role.

Therefore, I will be back with a major update on fires in Russia. There have been over a dozen (!) of them since the last update. So, you can expect this one before the end of the month. A frontline update will drop in in early September.

Slava Ukraini!

For further info about Prigo (RIP) and Wagner, please read the following stories: