After the television speech and the ultimatum to the Wagner mercenaries, Putin convened the Security Council. Beside him stood all the men who operate the crucial levers of power: the heads of the intelligence service and the national guard, the attorney general and the head of the commission of inquiry, the interior minister and also the defense minister Shoigu, who denied the rumors about his impending removal. The atmosphere seemed much more informal than the pictures from the pre-invasion meetings in Ukraine. The televisions broadcast a few sentences from the President, who spoke of an “absurd situation”. The movements on the President’s face seem to be out of tune: the lower lip and chin seem to tremble, a condition similar to the consequences of paresis. It can only be the stress accumulated over three dramatic, tension-dominated days. Continue reading
