Shuffling Russian military commanders or deck chairs on the Titanic: Which is it?

benfell

Ukraine


Fig. 1. “Destroyed Russian military vehicles located on the main street Khreshchatyk are seen as part of the celebration of the Independence Day of Ukraine in Kyiv, August 24.” Photograph by Gleb Garanich for Reuters, August 24, 2022,[1] fair use.

It’s probably futile, but I’m trying to keep track of the names here.

Russia has appointed Valery Gerasimov, chief of the general staff, as its overall commander for the war in Ukraine, in the latest of several major shake-ups of Moscow’s military leadership during the stumbling invasion of its neighbour. . . .

Sergei Surovikin, a notorious general nicknamed “General Armageddon” by the Russian media, who was appointed as overall commander of the army in October, would stay on as a deputy of Gerasimov, the defence ministry said. . . .

On Tuesday evening, the head of Russian’s Wagner mercenary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin [who has previously criticised Gerasimov and Shoigu], lashed out against the country’s defence ministry, boasting that his combat experience was “in many ways significantly superior to those who have been in the service of the ministry of defence for decades”.[2]

I have no great insight here, but Julia Ioffe has pointed to Yevgeny Prigozhin as possibly plotting a coup to replace Vladimir Putin[3] and this move[4] seems to keep him at a certain distance from a defense establishment that detests him.[5] (Prigozhin has also admitted efforts to interfere in U.S. elections.[6]) But also, so far as I know, Evgenia Markovna Albats’ forecast that Putin might be toppled in the spring[7] is still in play; indeed, I’ve seen reshuffles like those now playing out in Moscow as attempts to ward off such attempts. On the other hand, there’s always that trope about shuffling the deck chairs on the Titanic. Which is it? Like I said, I have no great insight.

Peter Beaumont and Pjotr Sauer, “Russia replaces general in charge of Ukraine war in latest military shake-up,” Guardian, January 11, 2023, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jan/11/russia-replaces-general-in-charge-of-ukraine-war-in-latest-military-shake-up

Work


Fig. 1. The spectre of Death, in the form of a large skeleton, rises with the smoke and flames of the burning Asch Building during the Triangle fire, as people jump and fall to their death. Artist unknown, from International Ladies Garment Workers Union Photographs (1885-1985) at The Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation and Archives, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0.

These schemes—which often involve fictitious job listings, interviews with fake recruiters and sham onboarding processes to steal job seekers’ money or identities—proliferated during the pandemic alongside virtual hiring and remote work, according to Federal Trade Commission data. Scammers now appear to be zeroing in on workers who have recently lost jobs, particularly in the tech industry, workforce experts and recent job-scam victims say. . . .

Job seekers say some fraudsters create fake job postings to draw them in, sometimes building websites to make dummy companies appear legitimate, while others impersonate established brands, authorities say. Some companies misrepresented by fake recruiters, like Coinbase, have added scam warnings to their websites. Once the applicant accepts the offer, the phony company will ask for sensitive information like Social Security and bank account numbers or request the job seeker pay upfront for work-related equipment.

“People have been struggling in a number of different ways, including needing a good source of income, and scammers are unfortunately capitalizing on that,” said Kati Daffan, assistant director in the FTC’s marketing-practices division, which monitors the schemes.[8]

Imani Moise, “Laid-Off Workers Are Flooded With Fake Job Offers,” Wall Street Journal, January 12, 2023, https://www.wsj.com/articles/laid-off-workers-are-flooded-with-fake-job-offers-11673387875

  1. [1]Reuters, “Ukraine puts destroyed Russian tanks on display in Kyiv,” August 25, 2022, https://www.reuters.com/news/picture/ukraine-puts-destroyed-russian-tanks-on-idUSRTSALV9Q↩
  2. [2]Peter Beaumont and Pjotr Sauer, “Russia replaces general in charge of Ukraine war in latest military shake-up,” Guardian, January 11, 2023, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jan/11/russia-replaces-general-in-charge-of-ukraine-war-in-latest-military-shake-up↩
  3. [3]Julia Ioffe, “‘Putin’s Chef’: The Man Behind Russia’s Shadow Army,” Puck News, December 13, 2022, https://puck.news/putins-chef-the-man-behind-russias-shadow-army/↩
  4. [4]Peter Beaumont and Pjotr Sauer, “Russia replaces general in charge of Ukraine war in latest military shake-up,” Guardian, January 11, 2023, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jan/11/russia-replaces-general-in-charge-of-ukraine-war-in-latest-military-shake-up↩
  5. [5]Julia Ioffe, “‘Putin’s Chef’: The Man Behind Russia’s Shadow Army,” Puck News, December 13, 2022, https://puck.news/putins-chef-the-man-behind-russias-shadow-army/↩
  6. [6]Reuters, “Russia’s Prigozhin admits interfering in U.S. elections,” November 7, 2022, https://www.reuters.com/world/us/russias-prigozhin-admits-interfering-us-elections-2022-11-07/↩
  7. [7]Julia Ioffe, “Fear and Loathing in Moscow,” Puck News, September 13, 2022, https://puck.news/fear-and-loathing-in-moscow/↩
  8. [8]Imani Moise, “Laid-Off Workers Are Flooded With Fake Job Offers,” Wall Street Journal, January 12, 2023, https://www.wsj.com/articles/laid-off-workers-are-flooded-with-fake-job-offers-11673387875↩

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