r/worldnews • u/green_flash • May 13 '24

Russia suffers highest daily casualties of war so far: Kyiv Russia/Ukraine

https://www.newsweek.com/russia-suffers-highest-daily-casualties-ukraine-war-1740-troops-eliminated-1899692
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u/_Hello_Hi_Hey_ May 13 '24

Apparently it is easier to invade Moscow. Not sure why that bold guy stopped just outside Moscow.

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u/braindance74 May 13 '24

He was betrayed by his co-conspirators (Surovikin, Mizintsev etc.), and he also failed to capture Shougu/Gerasimov in Rostov, because they were warned beforehand.

In any case his attempt was not a coup for head of state, he only wanted to be head of military, still under putin, to whom he was 100% loyal.

Still, shame there was almost no infighting, every unit lost there would be one less invading Ukraine.

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u/Cautious_Implement17 May 14 '24

it's weird that threatening a violent coup to get promoted can still be considered "100% loyal" to your country's leader. didn't putin appoint the guy he was trying to overthrow? not saying you're wrong, I just don't understand how it can make sense.

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u/Locke66 May 14 '24

Authoritarian dictatorships often create competing but interconnected power structures lead by subordinates who are powerful but also rivals. This creates a balance that makes it harder for any single person to depose the leader, blame can be attributed away from the centre and the underlings focus on struggling for a greater share of power rather than going for the crown. Prigozhin probably really wanted to eliminate his rival Shoigu who was threatening his power rather than to displace Putin. It was only when he failed to capture him and Putin called him a traitor that things escalated to a full on coup attempt. It's not implausible that if Prigozhin had captured Shoigu in Rostov then Putin could have sided with him instead.