Battle of Kursk II: Enter Ghost

"Enter Ghost." — A stage direction from Shakespeare’s Hamlet.

"As the day unfolded, a series of unexpected events influenced the battle's outcome." — The Battle of Waterloo, 1815.

In the tense corridors of Moscow, the atmosphere crackles with the kind of anxiety that only comes when history's shadow looms large. Security measures have been ramped up to the extreme, with rigorous checks at every entry point to the Russian capital. Officially, these precautions are attributed to the threat of Ukrainian sabotage and reconnaissance groups penetrating the city. But the reality? The true ghost haunting the Kremlin is not Ukrainian soldiers—it's the specter of Yevgeny Prigozhin.

Prigozhin, once Putin’s right-hand man, led the notorious Wagner Group, a private military company that became a symbol of Russian power and influence abroad. His loyalty to Putin was unquestionable, until it wasn’t. June 2023 saw Prigozhin launch an unprecedented rebellion, a direct challenge to the very man who had made him. Two months later, on August 23, Prigozhin’s life was snuffed out in a fiery plane crash north of Moscow, likely the result of sabotage or a bomb. His death sent shockwaves through Russian society, a grim reminder that loyalty in Putin’s Russia is as fragile as a thread.

At Prigozhin’s grave, notes appear with a chilling message: “We will take revenge!” They are a testament to the lingering anger and the brewing storm within Russia's power structure. Prigozhin himself had issued a stark warning before his demise: Putin, if cornered, might unleash a nuclear strike on Russian soil to maintain his grip on power. And now, as tensions escalate, Putin faces another challenge, this time from Georgy Zakrevsky, head of the private military company Palladin. In a recent video, Zakrevsky accused Putin of leading Russia into disaster, bluntly declaring, “This is absurd. War is not waged like that. And all this was done by the so-called president—'Great Putin.'” Zakrevsky’s words are more than just criticism; they are a call for Putin’s removal.

So, the beefed-up security in Moscow isn’t just about stopping Ukrainian forces; it’s about preventing another uprising from within, a repeat of Prigozhin’s almost-disastrous march on the capital.

While some Western analysts dismiss the Ukrainian invasion of Russian territory as a reckless gamble, they overlook the deeper tremors it has caused. The Ukrainian offensive might very well be the catalyst for a series of unexpected events that could lead to Putin’s downfall. The growing dissent among Russian patriots, their open accusations against Putin, and the mass surrender of Russian soldiers in the Kursk region during the Ukrainian advance are not just signs of weakness—they are harbingers of a potential collapse.

As the ghost of Prigozhin lingers, Putin finds himself in a precarious position, one where the endgame is no longer a distant possibility but a looming reality.

Glory to Ukraine!