Dead Drop: June 30

LET’S SLAP A BUMPERSTICKER ON IT:   What do you call the dust up from last weekend between Yevgeny Prigozhin – Chief of his own personal army he calls ‘Wagner Group’ and Vladimir Putin’s Russian forces? The Biden administration has been trying very hard not to label the events.  Spies tell us the ‘fear’ is that if they did so, they might be perceived as having had some involvement or might be reveling in the revolution.  On Monday, National Security Council Spokesman John Kirby, from the White House lectern, refused to say whether the administration saw the events as a “mutiny, a coup, an attempted coup, or an armed rebellion.” Not going there, Kirby said. “We’re not slapping a bumper sticker on it.” Putin seems to have no such constraints, saying in remarks on Tuesday, that his Army had stopped “civil war.”  Media, pundits and purveyors of snark were happy to take a shot at depicting what happened and the aftermath.  The New York Post described the events as “Putin on the Fritz.” Others tweeted that it was a “clown car coup,” “putz putsch” or a “coo-coo coup.” Among the mysteries, was how Prigozhin was able to cross the Rubicon and then throw things in reverse and get away (at least at this writing) unpunished.  We noticed that Putin mentioned “blackmail” in some remarks early in the week – so maybe Prigozhin has some dirt (or audio tapes) that are keeping him relatively safe for the moment.  We’re relatively sure, no matter what – that we don’t know all the sordid details (but we wish we did)!

RT PHONE HOME: The biggest surprise to us in a recent Moscow Times story is not really the substance of an order reportedly just given to Russian government officials – but the fact that the order was JUST given to them. According to the piece, Russian government officials have recently been banned from using their iPhones during cabinet meetings. Deputy Prime Ministers, ministers, and other staff are said to have been warned by the FSB that iPhones can carry “malicious software” that may be linked to “surveillance operations by American intelligence services.” Apparently, the Russians believe that other smart phones (not made by Apple) are safer to use. Sensitive U.S. facilities and agencies have long banned bringing personal electronic devices – made by any manufacturer – into areas where secret stuff goes on.