Putin’s Own Allies Turn On Him as Ukraine Unleashes Hell in Stolen Russian Tanks

[Dave Grubb]

The Russian president has been treated to several surprises worse than socks on his 70th birthday.

Hot on the heels of embarrassing reports of Russian recruits fighting each other and Moscow loyalists calling for Kremlin ministers to kill themselves, it seems the rage against Vladimir Putin’s handling of his invasion of Ukraine is now openly being conveyed to the man himself by members of his own inner circle.

A report Friday—which is Putin’s 70th birthday—said that one of the despot’s closest allies had openly challenged the disastrous way the war was being conducted. The landmark challenge was even significant enough to be included in U.S. President Joe Biden’s daily intelligence briefing, according to anonymous officials cited by the Washington Post.

As Putin is looking over his shoulder may he trip and have a most unfortunate fall.

[Truckman]

It's so bad that two Russkies risked death in an open boat on the Bering Sea to escape conscription into Putin's Folly...

Town clerk Curtis Silook told the Alaska’s News Source website that the men said they had sailed from the Russian town of Egvekinot, approximately 300 miles by sea. They were flown off the island later on Tuesday, he said.

My Dad, who served on Attu in WWII, could have testified to the inhospitable conditions in those waters......Ben

[Kevin]

Roman emperor Domitian ascended to the throne in 81 AD upon the death of his older brother, Titus. He started well, being a pretty good administrator and not neglecting the welfare of the people he ruled. Over time, though, he got a taste for splendor, holding extravagant games and demanding to be called dominus et deus (ruler and god). He became arbitrary, capricious and in an absolute ruler, this is pretty frightening. He became paranoid and had the halls of his palace lined with mirrors so that no one could sneak up behind him. Eventually, a palace coup by one of his own staff resulted in his assassination. He was hacked to death by conspirators, helped by Domitian's wife, who were on a "banned list". The Senate rejoiced and smashed everything they could find that bore either his likeness or his name.

I think Putin better start thinking about mirrors...

[Honda]

I don't understand enough about the Russian system to know if an assassin could actually get to him. I would think he's bunkered down somewhere with maximum security.

[Kevin]

I'm not a CIA operative, so I don't know much about this but looking at assassinations throughout history:

Anyone can be gotten to as long as you are not concerned with surviving the attempt yourself.

Kings and Roman Emperors were normally done away with by someone on the inside. Sometimes, that someone was the Praetorian Guard itself.

Phillip of Macedon once said that no walled city was impregnable as long as it had a gate big enough to allow an ass laden with gold in. Same goes for the types of walls around people.

Tsar Paul I was murdered by a group of former military officers at St. Michael's Palace. Tsar Alexander II was killed using a technique that terrorists these days sometimes use - a secondary attacker. Alexander was traveling in a bulletproof carriage surrounded by Cossack guards. A follower of Narodnaya Volya ("People's Will") threw a bomb at the carriage. The bomb exploded but did not harm the carriage. Alexander got out to survey the scene and a second attacker threw a bomb that landed at Alexander's feet and killed the Tsar. Sidenote - Vladimir Ulyanov's (Lenin) older brother, Alexander, was a member of Narodnaya Volya and was involved in an assassination plot (failed) against Tsar Alexander III. Ulyanov was very affected by his brother's subsequent execution and this experience is believed to be a factor in his decision to kill the entire Romanov family at Yekaterinburg at the Ipatiev House, which was code named "the house of special purpose", though I'm personally of the belief that the proximity of the Czech battalion which had a goal of freeing the former Tsar was the main driving force, not revenge, but no one really knows for certain.

Calling the war in Ukraine a "special military operation" had, for me, echoes of that "house of special purpose". It is a go to phrase for dirty deeds.

[Truckman]

I remember reading that Joe Stalin's inner circle of confidants were so in fear of him and his suspicions that his final hours were spent in abject misery locked in his room because no one had the guts to check on his welfare......Ben

[UTAH]

...an ass laden with gold...

This is some sort of test, right? Will they say something stupid about golden asses?

Most scholars believe Stalin killed between 3 and 6.5 million people (in Russia alone). I'm betting his soul is not resting on a tropical island.

Hunter