A long-running conflict between the Russian military and the Wagner group (a private mercenary army) over the ongoing invasion of Ukraine seems to have boiled over. Yevgeny Prigozhin, a man with a name as Russian as any other and the current head of Wagner, has escalated his disagreement into an open confrontation over the past 24 hours.
Prigozhin, a former hot dog salesman (not a joke), has accused Russia of attacking his soldiers and has openly challenged one of Big Bad Vlad’s main reasons for going to war in the first place. The Russian generals have in turn accused him of trying to start a coup against Putin. Prighozin claims to have control of Russia’s southern military headquarters in the fun-sounding city of Rostov-on-Don, near the front lines of the war in Ukraine.
Of all the ways I thought the Russia/Ukraine situation would play out, I didn’t have “hot dog salesman takes on Putin” on my bingo card. In response to Prigozhin’s provocations, Russian military armored vehicles were dispatched to the streets of Moscow and Russia was moving convoys of military equipment on the major highway linking the two cities. Putin, the mentally fragile dictator, has called the Wagner group’s actions treasonous armed rebellion, so you get the sense they won’t be kissing and making up after this. Somebody (likely somebodies) will pay for this dissent.
Important context: here’s a list of war crimes and atrocities committed by the Wagner group, in case you were feeling sympathetic for anyone involved.
Side Items
Chinese Heat Wave: What you thought the climate disaster would be localized? Beijing and other parts of northern China are currently experiencing record temperatures, with authorities urging people to limit the time spent outdoors.
An observatory in southern Beijing recorded temperatures above 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) for a third consecutive day, a first for the area. It’s nice to know that we’ll all suffer together as the planet overheats
Men Who Love Suffering: Speaking of suffering, what if I told you there’s a camp for men who don’t feel “manly” enough? What if, for a price, there was a routine that could put you through so much suffering that you’d learn to appreciate the little things in life? (No, I’m not talking about holding shopping bags at Nordstrom). This article delves into a program called the Modern Day Knight Program, already a terrible name, unless you’re learning to slay dragons. It’s articles like this that make it particularly embarrassing to be a man sometimes
The Orcas Will Win: In the ongoing battle for aquatic supremacy, don’t ever make the mistake of betting against the killer whales. A pod of Iberian orcas bumped a boat participating in an endurance sailing race as it approached the Strait of Gibraltar, the latest show of aggression from the beautiful beasts. Respectfully, I gotta side with the orcas on this one. They’ve made their position clear, if you don’t want a battle, stay out of the deep water