It was a false foag operation from the get go based on the Russian military doctrine of “Reflexive Control.”
This is described accurately by former Russian Intel operative Rebeka Koffler:
https://www.foxnews.com/video/6330059348112
Very interesting.
And very possible.
Putin and Prigozhin have been very close trusting friends for over thirty years. Prigozhin is street smart, but not strategic in his thinking.
Putin takes pride in manipulation of other people and is a strategic thinker.
My gut tells me there is much truth to what she says.
That is also my first thought.
Second thought is, it might be the real thing, but then, how could it end with, seemingly, no bloodshed?
Third, or rather last, thought is that Western intelligence agencies had something to do with it.
Yevgeniy Prigozhin is no friend of the West.
RUSSIAN REFLEXIVE CONTROL
pdf file
Abstract
Russia is increasingly applying methods of reflexive control (RC) to influence political decisionmaking through election manipulation as well as undermining the trust of citizens in political institutions and political systems of targeted countries. Russia is employing RC not only domestically and in neighboring countries such as Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland but also more and more in NATO countries such as the US, Germany, France, Great Britain, and Canada. For the CAF to be able to develop effective countermeasures, it is essential to achieve a deeper understanding of RC as it was used traditionally during the Cold War and particularly how it has been further developed to be used in current Russian operations. This report discusses the concept of Russian reflexive control, how it has evolved into its current iteration, the mechanics of how it works, and how to identify possible countermeasures to RC.
This RMCC research report addresses the following research questions:
1. What is Russian reflexive control?
2. In what instances has RC been successfully applied?
3. What were the underpinning mechanisms by which it worked?
4. What are possible countermeasures to RC?
5. What are possible applications of RC mechanisms by the CAF?
The paper concludes that reflexive control in its current form implies a compound program of targeted decision-making through multiple vectors, accounting for not only the adversary’s logical processing of information, but also emotional, psychological and cultural frameworks within which decisions are made, over a long time-frame. The complexity of the concept offers avenues to counter reflexive control operations. It appears to be a fragile operation that is fairly easy to counter, once identified, if target audiences are made aware of the concept and how it works. In addition to moral and legal concerns, the high complexity and fragility of RC operations, along with fairly effective countermeasures to RC, suggest the CAF should not apply RC mechanisms in operations.