Retired colonel weighs in on Russia’s internal politics

Yevgeny Prigozhin, leader of the private Russian army Wagner Group, complains that he is not getting enough help from the Russian military. CNN military analyst Col. Cedric Leighton (ret.) breaks down what this says about Russian internal politics. #CNN #News

[Barricade]

Mucha gracias to Spain
and
Ďakujem to Slovakia

[mrHBarry]

Lives lost from this senseless Russian war will never be replaced but Ukraine WILL BE REBUILT. Slava Ukraine.

[joerogain]

"Those who can make you believe absurdities (Putin/Prigozhin) can make you commit atrocities."

Voltaire

[deecee]

REGIME CHANGE FOR RUSSIA. #overthrowputin 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

[stevemitchell]

Be careful Ukraine, God willing You success

[Thinkingaroundthebox]

The reason that Russia can't pull off combined arms tactics is because Putin makes sure the split the military into warring factions so that no one can gain enough power to depose him

The internal politics in the Russian military isn't a bug, its a feature

[sumiland]

💛💙💜💙💛 Heroes, One and ALL!!
GIVE THEM EVERYTHING THEY NEED TO DRIVE RUSSIANZ OUT OF UKRAINE!! ALL OF IT!! 🇺🇦 🌏 🇺🇸

[IronMan-ddbh]

They have a divided command as each of their general wants to be the next ruler

[flyingtiger]

Leighton's analyses is always sound and he very well spoken....ditto Wesley Clark...is this anchor CNN's Jessica Dean???

[dandansen]

Help or NO help from the Russian military - wouldn't make ANY difference on the battle field.

[preposterous]

oh boy 4 jets. That's some serious airforce

[Trin]

Besides Ukrainian victory, the other thing the world must look forward to, is when Russia finally just sh ut up and keep their thoughts for themselves.

[Navybrat]

I would love to see Putler and Trump as cellmates....😂😂😂

[howardrubin]

So why isn't the US giving the Ukrainians fighter jets too? Let’s do it!

[NZobservatory]

How many people here still bust out laughing whenever they remember Ukraine sank the *MOSKVA* ? I always laugh my ass off thinking about the day Ukraine sank the *MOSKVA, * because it was so dmn hilarious. 😆😅🤣😂

[richardsimms]

Colonel Layton is quite experienced and worth listening to

RS. Canada

[Arigna]

Russia, go home to your family and power to the Ukraine.

[lindavid]

Bakhmut looks like my grandpa's back yard now, doesn't it? (If any of you know him)

[Pkwic]

Interview with an ex-prisoner Wagner veteran.

Pavel Balashov is a musician in a square. A talented guitarist, composer and poet, by the will of fate, ended up in Donbass back in 2014. These places are familiar to him since childhood, so he didn’t think for a long time - at first he volunteered, and then he picked up a machine gun.
Returning from the front in 2015, he ended up in prison, served a third of his term and again went to Donbass. Only now in officially Russian and as part of the Wagner PMC. Unlike the distant 2014, today Pavel can tell everything as it is - about himself, about the "orchestra", about Lisichansk and Artemovsk, about heroes and traitors.
Now Pavel works as a manager in a Moscow pub. When asked how he copes with such a sharp change in the type of activity and a lack of adrenaline, he answers that he bought a motorcycle with the money earned in PMCs. This is another passion of Paul. But in general, he has no plans to return to Donbass yet. At home, elderly parents are waiting for him, whom he has not seen for a very long time. And in the institution, which belongs to an old friend, there is a lot of work.

It was a sign from above
Abbas Juma, aif.ru: — Pavel, how did you get into Wagner PMC?

Pavel Balashov : - A very gloomy story happened. Instead of one person who agreed to sign everything he was given, three were closed.
In total, I went through three years in a pre-trial detention center, and a year and a half in a colony. And then representatives of the Wagner PMC flew to us together with Yevgeny Prigozhin, who announced that we had a chance for a new life. To do this, you need to honestly serve the Motherland for six months.
- How long did it take to make a decision?
- Kidding! Since February 24, I have been writing appeals to the Presidential Administration, asking them to send me to the NVO zone, to take into account my combat experience and knowledge of military registration specialties. Nothing helped. And then the "Wagners" arrive and say: "Let's go!" What thoughts? I ended up second in line only because the first one was younger and faster. In addition, I perfectly understood where I was going, as I was a participant in the events in Donbass in 2014-2015. At first he brought humanitarian aid there, and then he volunteered. So what happened in the colony became a sign from above for me.
- And there were many people like you?
- We initially signed up 400 people out of 1200 prisoners. But due to the fact that we have been waiting for the shipment for more than a month, a very large part has broken away. Someone changed their mind, someone got scared, someone was dissuaded by relatives. I'm not judging anyone, it's their choice. In addition, very few understood where they were called. They just made a very tempting offer - the so-called clean slate, or a full pardon if you survived.
As a result, 137 people went to the combat zone. More than 100 returned. Yes, we had a lot of wounded, but few losses.

Was there any selection? Or did they take everyone who expressed a desire?
- Of course it was. We were immediately told that in no case do they take rapists and pedophiles. The so-called offended were not taken under any circumstances. Even if a person has several articles, but one of them is similar, he was immediately refused. It was extremely rare that they took people with Article 205 ( terrorist act - ed .) - only through a polygraph and the approval of the FSB. Very carefully they took people who had a tendency to escape.
"Reds" did not want to let go to the Donbass
And how did the prison administration feel about all this?
- Honestly, not really. There were prisoners whom the administration even tried to dissuade. I heard that some of the cases were "lost". It turned out that at the time of sending about 15 people were not released. I can’t say exactly why this happened, but I admit that the administration simply did not want to part with some people.
- And why is that?
- Well, for example, one prisoner-enthusiast was engaged in business important enough for the zone. Of course, they didn't want to let him go.
I also had questions. The fact is that I was the foreman of the janitors of the industrial zone. This is the so-called. "red" position ( "red" - prisoners openly collaborating with the administration of the correctional institution - ed .). For this, I could do what I love - music. I remember when they told me that music is a “goat movement”, I answered these smart people: “Nothing, my ex provided me with horns - I will grow a beard. Well, go away!" And he went the "red" road, getting a "red" job.


Paid every penny, never deceived
- Well, in the end, can you confirm that after six months, worked out in the combat zone, your criminal record was extinguished and all the money was paid?
- All in full. As promised, they did. Even more. For example, no one promised awards. No one promised bonuses, but in the end they were, and I got more than I expected to receive. Finally, the timing is also clear. A few days before the expiration of six months, we were removed from combat positions and taken to rest in a beautiful forest on the shore of a reservoir. And, accordingly, home from there.
He died with a smile on his face
What or who do you remember the most?
“We had a guy in the evacuation team. Young, strong, ill-mannered - a child of the streets. A cheeky, rude boy. But he performed his duties admirably. He dragged seriously wounded children on his hump, was able to run several kilometers with a stretcher. In general, he was a very good fighter.
One day, our unit was hit by mortars, and this guy was sent to us. He managed to pull out two, and when he rushed for the third, he was hit by a mortar. We did not have time to take him ... As I remember now, on the belt of his machine gun there was an inscription: "I will die with a smile on my face."
When the body was brought, I looked at his face. He really did have a smile on his face. A young, boorish boy who was engaged in drug trafficking in a past life, renounced this life, became a volunteer and died like a hero.


- Are there many such examples when people really improve?
- It's hard to say, people come across different. Some people have illusions in their minds. For others, it is a chance to never return to a past life again. There are those who have found themselves in Wagner PMC and intend to connect their lives with it. And someone just wants to work for six months and return home.
- What category do you belong to?
- More like the last one. I have elderly parents, and it was insanely hard for me the five years that I spent without them. I was terrified every time to see my mother, who came to visit me and faded before my eyes. I am a normal person, and it hurts me to see when my family is ill.
This war was inevitable
- And how is the current conflict different from what it was in 2014?
- I will not be original if I say that this war is different from both Chechen, Afghan and Syrian campaigns. Of course, it is different from what it was in 2014. First of all, the fact that then much less artillery was involved. Everything was smaller, everything was much simpler.
There were not so many Natsiks, there were more mobilized. Like those that today the Kiev authorities are driving to the front at gunpoint. They, unlike the same Azov people, are reluctant to fight in 90% of cases. As soon as the shelling starts, these guys immediately retreat.
- And you said that you yourself did not start fighting right away. At first they did volunteer work. Why did they take up arms?
- Indeed, at first I was not going to fight. But once we evacuated the orphanage and came under mortar fire. And when a child of about six years old without legs crawled up to my feet with the words: “Uncle, finish it off, it hurts, ” I made a decision. At that moment, I realized that there was no fraternal war, that that bastard who was hitting the orphanage with a mortar was not my brother. At that moment, the humanitarian turned into a volunteer.
By the way, I managed to save the child. I had an ampoule of morphine, the boy got to the hospital alive, he was eventually adopted by a very good family.

The code of honor in PMC "Wagner" is sacred
- You probably know that Ukrainian and Western propaganda actively scare their own population with “Wagners”. Say, there are not people, but monsters with sledgehammers, drinking human blood. But the "orchestra" has a code of honor, and, as far as I know, if a terrible end awaits anyone, it is those who violated it.
- Exactly. I did not see the tormented prisoners. We have a clear order - to capture and transfer. Once I saw captured Ukrainians drinking tea. No executions or torture.
Yes, for looting, rape, drunkenness and drug addiction - execution.

- As I understand it, for desertion too ...
- Here everything is somewhat more complicated. First find out what happened. There was one story. We somehow slowed down five. These are two triples, in theory, but the second triple was without a commander. When asked where the commander is, they answer, they say, he ordered to retreat, while he covers himself. We did not believe them, took away the weapons and declared everyone “five hundredths” (the term used to designate deserters - author). Two days later, when they moved forward, they found their commander - seriously wounded, but alive. He confirmed that he sent the boys because they were in full swing, and there was nowhere for everyone to settle down.
Well, with traitors who run to the enemy, give out interviews on the other side and are also going to fight with us, the conversation is short. Many people think that a sledgehammer is too humane for them.

[-.]

I love Putin getting jealous of Prigozhin. Putin cannot allow others to become more popular than himself in Russia.