Par for the course. This disabled T-62 shows no signs of refurbishment despite Russia allegedly being about to refit/manufacture 1.2K MBTs annually according to the military geniuses in the other thread.
No no our Vatnik counter parts assure us that Russia will be making 1500 new tanks. Once a thousand T-14 Armatas hit the front NATO is finished and the number of polish mercenaries dying at Bakhmut will triple to 6,000,000 per hour.
He's definitely angling for something. It could be he's expecting to deal with the Ukrainians when the war ends, one way or another; since Prigozhin seems to be the only Russian they have a grudging respect for. At the very least he's trying to lessen a future prison sentence if he's somehow captured by Ukraine. I can see him immediately surrending the moment he's sure that a speedy trip through a window (or radioactive tea) awaits him back in Russia.
He's the closest to a "warrior leader" among the Russian leadership, considering his PR appearances in full camo uniform among his troops, and his outspoken begrudging respect for Ukrainian organized defenses and resistance, unlike the suit-wearing KGB spook who hides in his palaces and larps about an Eurasian ultra-Russian nationalistic dream of eliminating Ukrainian identity for good.
Sounds like he's trying to be the "reasonable alternative" to Putin. That or he got a different form of compensation under the table.
Honestly wonder what his endgame is. Controlled opposition? Trying to build a powerbase? He says a lot of shit that ought to have gotten him in trouble.
Pringles heads Wagner but its run by real soldiers of fortune; South Africans and the like. Seems like he's actually listening to them, which is why you see him doing his PR missions.
My guess on the prisoner swap is he's sending a bunch of UA his guys captured and was probably getting told "They're your responsibility" - so why not send them back. Get some good PR with the opposition (who now might be more inclined to capture not kill your guys) and send a message to Russian Command about "you'd better take these guys off our hands next time we talk".
Add to that, He's also very clearly building a power base. But my guess is that in very much "brothers" conflict like this one, releasing prisoners is probably going to sit well with the Donbros. Pringles is making himself too popular & useful to replace.
My guess would be the Oligarchs are noticing too. Putin's gonna need to be replaced eventually.
From my (almost certainly dated) understanding of things based on
New York Times Co. v. United States, once its out in the public the First Amendment means the government's hands are tied. It is
de facto declassified at that point, since trying to shut it down would count as prior restraint, which while there are exceptions such as national security, the presumption is in favor of speech. And frankly considering we aren't even at war the USA has even less of a national security claim now than it did in the 1970's when the 6-3 decision came down.
Of course if you have any pre-existing agreements with Uncle Sam on the handling of classified materials, you're fucked since you're still bound by them since the materials are still
de jure classified.
Again, going back to the Ham Sandwhich, its not that you'll get got its that you'll probably have three-letter spooks up your ass. They can't get you for having them, or posting them, but they'll try to get where you got them and if you don't take them down will make trouble.
Journalists have some protections for 1A, but things like current operations/objectives are still no bueno and will see your ass in court.
Again, DoD knows where they came from now and has the guys, and the documents while rated secret are not exactly super secret squirrel. No one's getting airstriked based on that data, no operatives covers getting blown.
