Yevgeny Nuzhin was a Russian prison inmate who enlisted into the Wagner mercenary group to fight in Ukraine. After being captured by Ukrainians he expressed his desire to fight against Putin. He was exchanged and then executed with sledgehammer according to Wagner traditions.
Wagner is led by Yevgeny Prigozhin who himself had spent 10 years in prison for violent crimes. Upon release he launched a catering business and eventually became known as "Putin's cook". In this capacity he established a Wagner mercenary group fighting colonial wars for Russia
Wagner mercenaries ironically style themselves as "ихтамнеты" ("they are not there"). It means that they are fighting in many countries where Russia has no official presence. If questioned, Russia will deny Wagners being there/connection of Wagner to Kremlin. Hence the nickname
Wagner's mythology and iconography is based on glorification of ultraviolence. Consider this Wagner merch. Execution with sledgehammer is the most recognisable symbol of the Wagner group.
We see guys beating someone with sledgehammer -> We think of Wagner
"Sledgehammer" symbol refers to this case. In Syria one of Assad's Syrian soldiers tried to desert. Wagner mercenaries captured him. They beat him with sledgehammer, cut off his hands and head with a saw and burnt the rest. This execution became the proudest symbol of Wagner
See video of Wagner mercenaries executing a Syrian here. Much of it is blurred, but it is still pretty graphic
What is interesting about this execution is that it wasn't prosecuted or even condemned. Instead it was endorsed and became the proud symbol and the trademark of the Wagner group. Modern Russia tends to endorse ultra violence rather than to condemn it
Initially they executed a Syrian deserter this way. Now they did it with one of their own. You can see a video here on their Telegram channel. Warning, it's graphic t.me/grey_zone/15767
Prigozhin and the Wagner social media accounts endorsed this new execution of course
Ultraviolet execution of a deserter is perfectly rational. Many prison recruits etc have low morals. With this execution Wagner tells:
1. You can't escape from us 2. After we get you back, you'll die in a terrible way
Ultraviolence is necessary to keep the unmotivated in line
At this point Wagner grew into a massive fighting force. They have infantry, artillery, tanks, air defence, even fighter jets. So pretty much everything that the regular army has except for navy, ballistic missiles, etc. The Wagner became an army in their own right
While being largely independent from the regular army, Wagner uses the same infrastructure. Most importantly, they train their recruits on the same training ground - @RheinmetallAG built Mulino. The only modern training center that Russia has
While the @RheinmetallAG officially "left" the project after Crimea, that is a verifiable lie. Customs declaration show them supplying the "Garnison" company that was building Mulino with components for assembling the simulation equipment even in 2019
In other words, @RheinmetallAG declaration in August 2022 is a verifiable lie. Russian customs declarations (see details in a thread quoted in a previous tweet) show that Rheinmetall was supplying Garnison with components for assembling simulation equipment even in 2019
TL;DR Russian ultraviolet mercenary Wagner group is being trained on @RheinmetallAG built training ground. It is the only training center in Russia that has modern simulation equipment. Rheimetall was shipping them components as late as in 2019
Thank you, Rheinmetall!
The end
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
And here goes the new round of donations for the Ukrainian army. Thanks to everyone who has donated last time! Here's one piece of equipment paid for by your money: a vehicle for the 58th brigade. Today I'll post some more donation links🧵
1. Communications equipment for the 1st (Bogun) Brigade. Radio batteries, antennas, etc
I see why many would want to pressure Ukraine to "negotiations" (=concessions). At the same time, I think proponents of appeasement do not understand Russian motives at all. The Russian invasion is motivated by *domestic* policy concerns. Which are still valid -> war can't stop
The early Putin's era was marked by the quickly rising oil prices. Russia was showered in oil revenues and the standards of life were objectively improving with every year. Incomes and quality of life improving, boosted Putin's legitimacy greatly
So early Putinism mostly operated with:
Economy rising -> More legitimacy
That wasn't the sole mechanism of regime legitimisation (wars also played a part), it was just an objectively more important part of the mix. People attributed their rising standards of life to Putin
Great question. Long story short: USSR organised competition artificially. We never have only one producer of e.g. bombers, we always have at least two rival structures. Let them fight
After 2000 Putin eliminated this competition, merging previously rivalling structure together
Russian export structure is simple. You just need to:
1. Take few key industries under yr direct control (oil, gas) 2. Enforce compliance of the oligarchs controlling smaller industries (e.g. metallurgy) 3. Prevent any independent fortunes emerging in other industries
No independent fortunes -> No one can challenge the supreme power
Now compare Russian export structure with Turkish. Its economy is way more complicated and allows for independent fortunes to emerge. That makes regime less stable. Controlling Turkey is much harder than Russia
Russia has major exports revenues generated by a few extractive corporations -> Leader has an option of destroying independent fortunes or preventing them from emerging -> He'll do it
If regime can sacrifice economic progress for political stability, it will do it. Russia can
NYT seems to be so desperate to find some "saviour figure" in Russia that they don't care about their credibility anymore. Sobchak is not a "socialite" or a "critic of regime". She may be the highest born aristocrat of Russia, flesh of the flesh of the ruling St Petersburg gang
Modern Russian elite was not created by Putin. It was casted in the corridors of the St Petersburg city government during the mayorship of Anatoly Sobchak, Xenia's father
Sobchak's team included:
Putin, Medvedev, Chubais, Kudrin, Miller, Sechin, Churov, Gref, Zubkov, Kozak, Zubkov, Naryshkin and many others. After Putin inherited the throne, he appointed his all St Petersburg pals at pretty much all positions of importance
I don't see any indication that China would see the Russian Far East as a preferable direction of expansion. What I see is the wishful thinking of too many US journalists/analysts who would love to see Moscow and Being clashing over Siberia. I think that's highly improbable
Russia is shrinking. And it is shrinking southwestward. Sunbelt around Krasnodar is the fastest growing region in Russia, while much of the Far East is turning into the empty desert. Economic and demographic centres of Russia are shifting to Europe, towards the Black Sea
War with Ukraine makes total sense
War with Turkey makes total sense
War with China makes no sense
Russia is shifting to the southwest. The East is turning to desert that Moscow won't fight over. It's Moscow that tries to attract Beijing to Siberia, while Beijing hesitates