• pelespirit@sh.itjust.works
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    4 days ago

    Not great for PR:

    Four sources within the government and the Kremlin told The Moscow Times that security officials promoted this shocking and “risky” episode in the media to convince Russians that their leader is not hiding behind others, but is also supposedly taking risks and making sacrifices.

    • VitoRobles@lemmy.today
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      4 days ago

      That’s hilarious.

      This is a guy who has literal body doubles.

      He’s a fucking coward and doesn’t even trust people in the same room as him.

    • DontTreadOnBigfoot@lemmy.world
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      4 days ago

      Honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if it was a PR spin.

      I imagine the conversation going something like this:

      "Holy shit, the Ukrainians almost hit the presidential helicopter. This makes us look real bad.

      Okay, here’s what we do. We tell everybody that it was us, and it was totally on purpose so they don’t realize how close the Ukrainians came to winning the war"

      • Jay@lemmy.ca
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        4 days ago

        If they stuffed him full of taco bell and lit his ass on fire, he could be a missile.

      • pelespirit@sh.itjust.works
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        4 days ago

        Lol, that would awesome except I’m not sure how he could fight from his chair wile Putin is in a helicopter. I guess he could be fighting the air traffic controllers or the ground crew from a chair? This script will probably have to go through a few revisions.

      • Gsus4@mander.xyz
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        4 days ago

        Yeah, he’s playing the heli. Spins his ponytail to take off, putin’s right there cozy up his ass.

  • floo@retrolemmy.com
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    4 days ago

    They are probably only admitting this now because it happened to make Ukraine look like badasses rather than villains.

  • iAvicenna@lemmy.world
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    4 days ago

    Yea classic dictator bullshit. Erdoğan did it, Trump did it. You are too late to the party Putin.

  • Tony Bark@pawb.social
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    4 days ago

    Then I’m calling last year’s assassination attempt on Trump staged as well.

    • AmidFuror@fedia.io
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      4 days ago

      That shot was awfully close. They’d have to have a lot of faith in the shooter’s marksmanship.

      • nickwitha_k (he/him)
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        4 days ago

        The likelihood that a bullet was anywhere near his ear is remote. The views that show it are from a misleading perspective.

      • Death_Equity@lemmy.world
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        4 days ago

        That shot is impossible to do reliably. Even the best marksman would be risking hitting Trump in the head. Literally, if Trump had not turned his head, the back of his skull would have been hit. We are talking a bolt action with match grade ammo, ballistic calculations, Trump turning his head at the perfect moment to just clip his ear, and enough luck to win the lottery with one ticket and consecutive numbers.

        If they wanted to fake an assassination attempt, they would shoot him in the belly transverse with a low velocity 5.56.

        • nickwitha_k (he/him)
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          4 days ago

          There is insufficient evidence to suggest that his turning his head was at all relevant. It’s unlikely that he was directly hit, due to both the lack of any visible scarring of any kind and the suppression of all medical evidence that would readily prove it. If there were proof, the compulsive liar would almost definitely leverage it.

  • A_norny_mousse@feddit.org
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    4 days ago

    It’s rare to get any real news out of Russia these days, but news critical of the regime… 😚👌

    It’s great to support Ukrainian outlets, but I wanted to go the extra mile - here’s the source they’re citing (their wikipedia page):

    As ordinary Russians continue to bear the domestic brunt of Putin’s war, the Kremlin and the security services staged this PR stunt to convince the public that Putin, too, is making sacrifices for the country, four current and former Russian officials told The Moscow Times.

    All of these sources spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive details related to Putin’s security.

    With Ukrainian drone strikes, unprecedented flight cancellations at Russian airports and mobile internet outages becoming more frequent since May 9’s Victory Day celebrations, a display of Putin’s readiness to “personally risk his life” while performing his official duties could temper public dissatisfaction.

    Ah, it sounds like heavenly bells when it’s only Russia’s oppression machinery grinding with sand.

  • nesc@lemmy.cafe
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    4 days ago

    meh, who cares. Even if he was killed nothing will change.

    • Rose@lemmy.zipOP
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      4 days ago

      I do think it would end any Russian politician’s career if they were to tell the nation that the war has been in vain and that the occupied territories of Ukraine are to be returned but I also think you underestimate the power of a dictator. Everything in Russia is built around Putin and his image, so him dying could be a significant disruption leading to another revolution. That said, in Russia, virtually every revolution leads to a brief moment of freedom only for another dictator to come in and say how chaotic it is and that order must be restored, with the people accepting that.

        • Rose@lemmy.zipOP
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          4 days ago

          Personally, I’m of the opinion that much of the world’s shift toward authoritarianism is thanks to Putin’s two decades of misinformation, sabotage, hacking, military involvement and other campaigns. A lot of what Russia does in that field comes off as a conspiracy theory that looks like it’s straight from a spy movie, but there’s a trove of evidence backing it up. Everybody knows about the DNC hack but I feel like there are many other things that have flown under the radar. For example, how many people know that the so-called Internet Research Agency got Americans out to protest for BLM? They also got people out to protest against BLM. The same for guns rights and other issues. The goal has been to sow discord and division, which is exactly what we’re seeing in the world today.

          • pelespirit@sh.itjust.works
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            4 days ago

            It’s incredible what he’s done as harm towards America and Ukraine. There has to be more countries he’s screwed over. Saying things like the other commenter that Trump was dumb and easy to manipulate, doesn’t take into account that Trump got a second term with a lot of help.

            • Rose@lemmy.zipOP
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              4 days ago

              Yeah, Trump is undoubtedly thankful for the hacks and the information campaigns, including the recently revealed funding of the likes of Tim Pool. I’ve seen various opinions attributing Trump’s most recent win to the rise of influencers and podcast creators who presented themselves as an alternative to the traditional media. You’re right about the other countries too. Having the likes of Schroeder or Le Pen on the payroll goes a long way, and that’s not the limit of the extent of the Russian operations.

              Edit: Grammar.

        • A_norny_mousse@feddit.org
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          4 days ago

          OK I know it’s not only Trump, but still - it’s easy to be savvy against him.

          Many more “world leaders” are not controlled by him, most see straight through the Kremlin’s charades. Ten years ago, hell, even 2022, I might’ve agreed, but not anymore.

      • nesc@lemmy.cafe
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        4 days ago

        r*ssians are in love with their image of empire, they will live in literal shit as long as someone says they are great, there is no one in there who won’t continue the war. Like the most liberal saviour of democracy of the hellhole - navalny supported war and crimean occupation.

        Current ru-empire was at war starting from their previous empire collapse, and previous one was the same. Why would new one be any different? As long as they exist as a single entity it won’t end. Only after partitioning it there can be peace for neighboring countries while they kill themselves.

        • Chakravanti@monero.town
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          3 days ago

          Everyone has a history of murder in their family. Story another and you still won’t escape the kharma. With it binding you too anything, you will probably believe that will define willingness, agreement, and of course division. It becomes that because you did that but you did that because this is an attatched cycle, repeat, rhetoric that’s easily validated. Thus support maintianance of the cycle…sigh

          Now, if you know the script, for anything related to that script you’re attending, you can deliver to your evokators & invokators for near instant knowledge movement repeat by the ritual making.

      • A_norny_mousse@feddit.org
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        4 days ago

        Agreed. Actually I’m even slightly more hopeful than you. Other countries have managed to turn around, even large ones.

        Everything in Russia is built around Putin

        The sourced article goes into more detail here. The whole helicopter journey was impossible.

      • Joe@discuss.tchncs.de
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        4 days ago

        And, just like in a democracy, they can blame all the problems on the previous leader, and will enact new policies. There won’t be any former victories to claim as their own in putin’s case, though. It’s a hollow shell of a country these days, let alone an empire.

        What a waste … think what russia could have been, had it invested in its own potential.

      • Talaraine@fedia.io
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        4 days ago

        Sometimes when it seems life is never gonna change for me, I just wish for a different set of assholes I need to deal with.

    • AllNewTypeFace@leminal.space
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      4 days ago

      If he has established a clear line of succession, with the second-in-command being given increasing responsibilities to prepare them for taking charge and everybody else knowing their authority, maybe. Though Putin has specifically avoided this as to avoid any rival centres of power from forming and challenging him. His philosophy seems to be “apres moi, le deluge”: when he no longer exists, it doesn’t matter whether Russia does or not. This does not bode well for an orderly transition.

      • fullsquare@awful.systems
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        4 days ago

        yeah, putin’s power comes from being an arbiter between different oligarchs. when he croaks it’ll be shitshow the likes you all haven’t seen since 90s

      • nesc@lemmy.cafe
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        4 days ago

        Any successor imaginable will continue their current path, it’s not ptin it’s rssians.