What Happened in the Russian Coup?

It was a bizarre weekend in Mother Russia this past weekend, with a coup attempt against Putin that fizzled. Here's some possible scenarios.

It was quite the weekend in Russia. On Friday night, it was reported that Yevgeny Prigozhin, the leader of the mercenary Wagner Group, had left Bakhmut, a key stronghold in the Russia-Ukraine War, and began marching on Moscow in a coup attempt against Russian president Vladimir Putin. Everyone aware of the situation watched with bated breath. Would Russia descend into civil war? Then, seemingly in the blink of an eye, by Saturday afternoon it was all over. Putin and Prigozhin had reached some sort of rapprochement, and the coup leader went safely to Belarus as part of the deal.

So, what exactly happened? No one’s really sure, and this looks like something where the full truth will take months, perhaps even years, to come out. But here are some speculative theories:

*Prigozhin got started on the road to Moscow and found out there wasn’t nearly as much support within the military as he’d anticipated. And he cut a deal while there was still one to be cut. There seems to be some anecdotal evidence pointing to this. Although at this point, conclusions on any theory are way too premature.

*The CIA backed the coup attempt, paying Prigozhin to lead the effort to destabilize Putin’s government. At which point, Prigozhin does a double-cross and escapes to Belarus. The fact that the Pentagon just announced there is $6 billion in money designated for Ukraine that no one can account for would lend at least a little bit of anecdotal credence to this theory. As would the fact we’ve never audited any of the billions sent over to Ukraine. As would the fact that this coup attempt—and the headlines it generated—arrived very conveniently at a time when credible IRS whistleblowers were coming forward to implicate the Justice Department in covering up the Biden bribery scandal that is at the root of U.S. involvement in Ukraine to begin with.

*The coup was not against Putin, so much as it was against the Russian Defense Ministry. Under this theory, the Wagner Group was upset because they felt their hands were being tied in what they could do in Ukraine. You won’t hear this in Western media, but Putin has been remarkably restrained, both in how carefully he’s moved in Ukraine, along with his lack of reaction to repeated Western provocation (e.g., two drones moving over the Kremlin). The Wagner Group, being mercenaries—literally emptied out of the prisons of Russia to go fight on the frontlines—might well have had enough and rebelled against the Defense Ministry. Under this theory, Putin could have been more mediator than target.

*The whole thing was staged to begin with. This is the psy-op theory, wherein Putin and Prigozhin staged a coup for the purpose of flushing out and exposing dissident elements and CIA assets embedded within their own military. This would certainly explain the rapid settlement. Although it would not explain credible reports that Putin’s forces did suffer serious damage in the brief hours the coup went on.

In the end, we’ll have to wait and see what really happened in Russia over this past weekend. Whether or not Prigozhin shows up dead at some point in the near future will certainly be one clue.

One conclusion we don’t have to wait on though, is this—the American corporate media is simply insane. In the height of the tension, late Friday night and early Saturday morning, major media outlets and pundits were celebrating this coup as what would finally take Putin down.

Have they lost their minds? They would really rather see a mercenary group in charge of 90,000 nuclear weapons? Their Putin hate (which is really displaced Trump hate) is that far out of control?

All I can say is that if you’re still watching corporate media, stop. Right now. We’ve got a page full of good alternative programming right here that will keep you busy. And, if nothing else, having no information is still better than having bad information or assessments that are literally so insane they flirt with nuclear war.

An Even Bigger Picture

The story path I’m about to open up will be pretty stiff, so to speak, even for a lot of our Catholic audience. Or, to keep the Russian theme going, it will be vodka without a chaser. But just stick with me and hear me out.

For me, it is impossible to see the events of this weekend without considering the prophecies of Fatima, back in 1917.

For those not familiar, Fatima is where the Mother of Christ appeared to three peasant children and implored them to say the rosary to alleviate a chastisement for mankind. “The Beautiful Lady” as the children called her, further said that Russia was at the epicenter of what was to come—that Russia would be either the source of great blessing or great chastisement depending on what direction humanity chose.

That prophecy was given by the children in advance of the Bolshevik Revolution and these were peasant kids with little to no formal schooling. They could not have known what was brewing at that very moment. So when Communists seized power in Russia just months after the apparition, it was one of many confirmations of the prophecy’s authenticity.

There was a solution, given by the Lady to the children—everyone could say the rosary. And the hierarchy of Holy Mother Church—the pope and the bishops—could consecrate Russia to her Immaculate Heart, and disaster would be averted.

Decades went by with no action. In the meantime, the Soviet Union (what Russia was called by the Communist regime) murdered and starved its own people, took Eastern Europe and committed atrocities there, and did the same across the globe in a worldwide effort to export revolution.

In 1984, Pope John Paul II, in union with the bishops of the world, finally consecrated the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Five years later the Berlin Wall was down. The following year, Communist regimes fell across Eastern Europe. And in December of 1991, the Soviet Union itself fell. Boris Yeltsin became president and the nation of Russia was restored.

There was still debate in the Catholic circles that follow the Fatima message. The 1984 consecration had not specifically named “Russia”. In March of 2022, after Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, and the threat of a wider war again looming, Pope Francis acted. United with the world’s bishops he consecrated both Russia and Ukraine to the Immaculate Heart.

THE LIGHT OF FATIMA: VIDEO DISCUSSION ON THE 2022 CONSECRATION

Results were not long in coming in. While not directly tied to Russia, Roe vs. Wade was overturned three months later. And on the precise anniversary of Roe’s fall, June 24, we get the word of this coup attempt in Russia. June 24 has further significance in that it’s the feast of John the Baptist, the prophet who paved the way for Christ.

What does all of this mean today? Again, I don’t know. What I do know is that on Saturday morning, when I was sure the coup attempt was real (or at least that something was going on), I texted some faithful prayer warriors to seek Our Lady of Fatima’s intercession. I’m quite sure I’m not the only one. By afternoon, it was over.

It’s worth noting that believing in the prophecies of Fatima does not necessarily lead one to specific political conclusions. It doesn’t matter what your opinion of Putin, Biden, or even Trump (as hard as it for the Trump-haters among us to believe that) is. It doesn’t matter what policy you want to see in Ukraine or anywhere else.

Believing in the Fatima prophecy in this context simply means seeing ongoing developments in Russia in that light. Putin’s actions could be the chastisement. Or, as I believe, maybe the horrid Western response to Russia is creating the chastisement. Or maybe there’s really blessings waiting at the end of this. Or any number of other possibilities. It’s just one more example of the ultimate truth on all of this being something that has yet to be revealed.

Who knows if the power of prayer in general and the rosary in particular is what staved off a crisis in Russia this past weekend. Who knows if we’ll be so fortunate the next time. We’re certainly a society that seems to want test God’s patience, and our nation has absolutely been given the president it deserves, even the nation didn’t actually vote for him.

But just for today, we’re still here. I don’t know if it’s God’s will that we live through a terrible war. I do know he’s armed us with 20 decades of the rosary. And that’s ammunition we can fire off anytime we want.