[pc_edwin]

I've had the exact thought, it looks as if we are further descending into apocalyptic territory.

You have people capable of extreme destruction being cornered into an existential state, leaving them with very little rational options. This is when the irrational options starts appearing very rational..

True or not, what if this appears like a western backed coup to Putin and his inner circle. The kind of retaliations such an action would call for is unimaginable.

[jussij]

I'm not sure the Kremlin is full of irrational individuals ready see their country totally annihilated. I suspect the Kremlin is full of self-serving individuals determined to look after their own self-interest. They'll be happy to see Putin hang on, provided of course his success aligns with their success. But if their interests could be better served supporting someone else, they will quickly flip allegiances.

[pc_edwin]

I'm inclined to agree with your line of thinking but my comment was on the second and third order consequences of what just happened.

When you put rational people in extremely chaotic situations, they tend to make very irrational choices.

As of just a few hours ago we just entered a world where the following is an actual possibility, albeit an unlikely possibility: Prigozhin closes in, creating an existential crises for Putin and his inner circle. They believe this is a western backed coup where defeat isn't just personal but also defeat for Russia. Putin & his inner circle are put in a position to consider retaliation under the context of a rapidly deteriorating existential crises.

I'm a voracious consumer of history and I can tell the one thing you learn from history is how a set of seemingly unrelated harmless dominos change the world overnight whether if its the death of a duke from a second tier power or the ambition of a failed artist.

[mtlmtlmtlmtl]

I could see the probability of a deranged Putin ordering nuclear strikes within Russia going up, but I think the probability of his order being followed will go down accordingly. It's not as if Putin can actually launch the nukes unilaterally.