Russian lawmakers authorize Putin to use military force outside the country, Part II

[Labster]

Rostov was captured by Wagner forces. They're heading north. I'm just going to quote this quote:

Samantha de Bendern, an associate fellow in Chatham House’s Russia and Eurasia programme said: “Rostov is the most important military logistical hub for the Russian armed forces fighting in Ukraine. And yet there were not enough Russian military able or willing to stop Prigozhin taking over the local military HQ.

“A heavily armed Prigozhin then sat down to drink tea with an unarmed deputy defence minister and the deputy head of military intelligence, and moralized them like an angry school teacher. This is so surreal that any deep analysis is difficult at this point but the first round seems to have gone to Prigozhin.”

-- Russian air force Ka-52 bombed a fuel depot that Wagner was using
-- Putin went on TV to call these folks "armed mutiny", "rebellion", "stab in the back" and "treason"
-- Before that Prigozhin was under arrest for criticizing the army too much
-- Remember what happened with Julius Caesar, where he didn't have any choice but to win? Like that, but instead of military genius we have loudmouths like Kadyrov.
-- Actually the Chechens are siding with Putin. Expect Kadyrov's influencer corps to show up on the battlefield soon. (Just not a battlefield near Moscow or Ukraine)
-- Pizza sales in Alexandria, Virginia increase
-- Poland slightly disappointed because its now less likely NATO will do The Funni
-- Chinese looking at this going, "hmmm"
-- Tankies claiming this is all just a giant lure to get Ukraine to overextend their attack
-- Private militaries have always been illegal in Russia, and here we are
-- I guess they're heading north really fast, and have made it to Voronezh. It's almost as if the vast majority of Russia's military is busy elsewhere.
-- Can you smell what Putin's chef is cooking?
-- Honestly everything is really unpredictable. Prigozhin says he wants to finish the war properly, so he might make the war worse... or maybe that's just bluster to take power?
-- I don't think anyone knows if this coup will succeed or not. People in the know seem to think it's more likely to fail, but too early to tell for sure, and still has a good chance of working anyway.
-- Lots of private aircraft leaving Moscow today
-- Even if Putin wins he'll be greatly weakened. You can't be a strongman if you're facing rebellions.
-- Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg agreed to a cage fight. Unrelated to this story, but I thought you'd like to read something less crazy.