Hacker Kim Dotcom has offered his take on the “Wagner Coup” in Russia, intimating that Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin may have collected billions from the CIA to stage a coup, and then aborted the coup.
Several observers such as Rep. Majorie Taylor Greene have speculated the Wagner Coup may have had US backing (Gateway reported).
On Saturday, Kim “Dotcom” Schmitz offered his explanation of the background of the inner-Russian strife:
“This started as a power struggle between Prigozhin and (Russsian Minister of Defence Sergei) Shoigu. In the beginning of the Special military operation Shoigu and his team made mistakes and Prigozhin became of strong critic of Shoigu. Prigozhin then had success in Bakhmut with Wagner Group presenting himself as a better military leader than Shoigu.
In my view Shoigu then provoked Prigozhin by limiting ammunition supplies to Bakhmut resulting in Wagner Group losses and a strong reaction from Prigozhin. Many of you have seen the video of Prigozhin attacking Shoigu and the Russian military leadership.
Ammunition deliveries were restored and victory in Bakhmut was achieved but the video outburst by Prigozhin was likely counterproductive for him because the Kremlin and senior political leaders in Moscow saw him as a loose cannon who can’t be trusted. Prigozhin doubled down predicting a massive loss for the Russian military claiming that it was not ready for the Ukrainian counter-offensive. He claimed that the Russian troops are badly equipped and poorly managed by Shoigu.
With the Russian military successfully repelling the Ukrainian counter-offensive Prigozhin had played himself into a corner and his time was running out because Shoigu and his Generals delivered a major victory for the Kremlin. In my view the actions by Prigozhin are an act of desperation because he has lost the power struggle against Shoigu and is likely facing serious retaliation.
Western media claims this is an attempted coup against Putin. That’s nonsense. The popularity of Putin within Russia and in the non-western world has never been higher. However this war between Prigozhin and Shoigu is an unwelcome distraction for the Kremlin and the most likely outcome will be the arrest or termination of Prigozhin.”
Kim DotCom then went on a Spaces discussion with host Mario Nawfal and argued that Vladimir Putin and Yevgeny Prigozhin would reach a negotiated settlement, even as a column of Wagner vehicles was approaching Moscow and many Ukraine hawks were breathlessly awaiting a coup and anarchy in the world’s largest nuclear power.
Kim Dotcom then posted this meme suggesting the $6.2 billion for Ukraine that Pentagon accountants “discovered” in June was actually pocketed by Prigozhin in return for his aborted coup attempt.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic charged that “foreign services” were involved in the Saturday coup attempt: “I don’t want to say who was involved from the outside, but have no doubts.”