Marco Rubio, a Republican senator and co-chair of the intelligence committee, according to posts on his personal Twitter page, spent Friday evening watching Wagner PMC fighters seize military installations and appear in Rostov and Voronezh late into the night . In a comment on one of the videos, Rubio wrote, “Whoever controls Rostov will also control the main supply line for all Russian forces in Ukraine.”
Around midnight, the Republican senator wrote another message: “Our national defense agencies are closely monitoring the development of an extraordinary internal conflict between Russian internal forces. It doesn’t matter how it ends, but it will certainly have great and, perhaps, historical significance.
Democratic Senators Chris Murphy of Massachusetts and Brian Schatz of Hawaii spent their evening similarly. They observed developments in Russia, the reaction of its top leadership to the geography of the movement of Wagner PMC forces in the country, receiving information from social networks, lamenting the absence of a full-fledged television special dedicated to the development of the situation in the Russian Federation.
“The first cable network to get this news (about events in Russia) on the air will win,” Senator Schatz wrote.
Senator Murphy, commenting on this message from a colleague, wrote: “I feel like that’s exactly what everyone (cable channels) should have been showing at this minute. If you are a news agency, then these events are news.
Congresswoman Eliza Slotkin, a member of the Lower House Intelligence and Military Committees, said on her Twitter page that she had been following the development of events almost live all night, calling them “thrilling”.
She wrote: “First of all, the Russians are fighting the Russians on Russian territory, which did not happen in 1991, when there was an attempted coup, these (events) are born only because of Russian mistakes in Ukraine. Armed forces with clear plans, command, operational successes do not slide into violence against themselves. This is the clearest public confirmation of the stupidity of Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. Remember: Wagner, a private military force, was moved to Ukraine and sent to the front due to the defeats of the Russian regular armed forces. It would amount to the US military relying on a contracting firm to turn on US leadership and march on DC. The weakness of the once intimidating Russian military is simply unbelievable. And that’s not the only problem for Putin inside Russia – it calls into question Russia’s ability to stand up to a Ukrainian counteroffensive this summer. Wagner won small military victories in Ukraine, so there is a chance that the Ukrainian armed forces will continue to liberate their land – do not change. Finally, if the questioning of the Putin dictatorship is historic in itself, it must be remembered that Wagner and Prigozhin are not good guys who came to liberate Russia and make it a flourishing democracy. You accept the Prigozhin troll factories and the operation to influence the results of the 2016 US elections. The US position at this stage is to monitor developments closely, to help our Ukrainian partners seize all opportunities the battlefield and to stay flexible and alert in this unpredictable moment in history.
Eric Swalwell, a Democratic congressman and member of the Ukrainian caucus, after observing the situation in Russia and the progress of Wagner’s fighters, wrote: “Let’s be absolutely clear about who Prigozhin is and what he wants. This guy is a fucking thug. He doesn’t want a spark in Russia, he wants a change of military command to carry out a more effective massacre of innocent Ukrainians.”
Prigozhin’s personality, intentions, likely scenarios for the development of events in Russia and opening opportunities for Ukraine were also commented on by Democratic Congressman Jason Crowe, who works in the International Affairs Committee. “A few initial thoughts on the situation in Russia: 1. Prigozhin is nobody’s friend and no less dangerous than Putin (potentially even more dangerous). 2. This will most likely benefit the Ukrainian counter-offensive in the very near future and should be exploited as soon as possible.
Another Democrat and former Marine, Jake Auchincloss, wrote that “Putin’s only hope may be that Republicans elect Trump over Ukraine.”
The head of the Congressional Helsinki Commission, Republican Joe Wilson, tweeted: “Wagner Group’s Prigozhin terrorists are funded by Putin and have committed horrific crimes against humanity including torture, murder of women and children. I hope that this inevitable war between criminals will allow Ukraine to take advantage to get rid of the invaders.
Read the Ukraine War News Latest Today on The Eastern Herald.
