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The attempted coup in Russia

Last weekend, Prigozhin, the head of the Wagner military contractors fighting in Ukraine, led an attempted coup against the Russian government. Prigozhin had a long-standing feud with the Ministry of Defense chief (Shoigu) and the Chief of Staff (Gerasimov). Last February he accused them of not providing him with sufficient ammunition.

Last Thursday, Prigozhin claimed that Russian artillery had attacked his troops, a claim which he later withdrew. Nonetheless, he used that claim to lead a convoy of troops to Rostov on Don, where the Russian military headquarters were located. Russia then moved its Chechen troops to surround the city. Prigozhin left with about one-fourth of its troops and began to move north toward Moscow (a 13-hour trip).

Russia set up a roadblock about 200 km south of Moscow, and that is where the mutiny ended. Prigozhian apparently thought that others would rise up and support him, but he miscalculated. No Russian units joined with him or demanded the resignation of Shoigu and Gerasimov. No political parties joined him. Even the main opposition party in Russia remained loyal to President Putin.

Belarus president Lukashenko then called Prigozhin and Putin and arranged a deal for Prigozhin to give up and go into exile in Belarus. It is said that most coups begin on Friday and end on Sunday. This happened. The main difference, however, was that there was no serious bloodshed. Putin felt betrayed, because for many months he had resisted the calls to replace Prigozhin for his public insubordination. Putin made a speech, calling this coup “treason,” and treason is normally punishable by death. However, for the sake of peace, he agreed to let Prigozhin go into exile, and he issued a pardon to those Wagner troops who had been “misled” into the attempted coup.

So the weekend was full of drama in Russia. The Western media was full of excitement about a Russian “civil war,” and they were quick to report “cracks” in the Russian government. This all turned out to be wishful thinking, of course. When the coup failed with very little bloodshed, the West went into a depression.

The whole incident proved that the Russian government as a whole is united, Putin’s popularity rating is still hovering around 83 percent, and the only “crack” was Prigozhin himself. In fact, three-fourths of the Wagner troops refused to participate in attempted coup, and even the few who participated in the trip toward Moscow thought that they were simply returning to their original home base. It seems that Prigozhin misled them too.

This all happened so fast that the Ukrainian army could not take advantage of the situation. So now the war continues unabated as if nothing happened. US officials claimed to have foreknowledge of this attempted coup for the past few weeks, and it was rumored that Putin knew about it also. I do not know if this is true or not, but if true, it would suggest that the West probably played some role in it. They deny this, of course, but I cannot imagine the CIA not doing something to support a coup. After all, “regime change” has been one of their main goals.

Some are suggesting that the West was counting on this coup to move Russian troops away from Ukraine in order to deal with Prigozhin. Was this why US officials were predicting a victory for Ukraine in the so-called “counteroffensive”? Time will tell.

A peace conference was organized in Denmark last Saturday while the attempted coup was at its height to achieve “a just and lasting peace.”

https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20230624-ukraine-organises-peace-meeting-in-denmark

Everyone was invited except Russia, of course. How does one achieve peace without talking to the main parties in this war? The West’s version of peace is the overthrow of Putin and the dismantling of Russia itself into five independent nations. Russia’s version of peace is to have Ukraine neutral (not part of NATO) and to accept the fact that the Russian-speaking people in the eastern provinces and Crimea voted overwhelmingly in their referendums to return to Russia.

So far, the two sides are nowhere near any agreement, so the war continues. Russia has no plans to allow the West to break it up into five countries. Russia will not allow NATO to set up nuclear missiles on its Ukrainian border. Neither will Russia allow the Ukrainians to persecute its Russian-speaking population in the east.

From the standpoint of prophecy, I see this war in terms of a much broader conflict that began thousands of years ago. The key event in the past was the fall of Babylon at the hands of the Medes and Persians—the original “kings from the east” (Revelation 16:12). The book of Revelation uses this terminology to tell us of a future repetition of the original fall of Babylon. In our time, the sixth angel has poured out his bowl of wine upon the Euphrates to prepare the way for the fall of Babylon (the seventh angel).

Very few modern prophets understand this, as they have failed to make the historical connection between the Medes and Persians and today’s Russia and China. Even Iran is playing a role in this once again, because ancient Persia is now called Iran. The fact that western nations consider these nations to be enemies shows that modern Babylon is now represented by the governments in the West. We ourselves are like the people of Judah and Benjamin who are being held captive until God raises up the kings from the east to set us free. (Note the Edict of Cyrus.)

Prophecy makes it clear who will win in the end. Ancient Babylon fell to Cyrus, who is called a messiah in Isaiah 45:1). Modern Babylon will fall to a greater Messiah—Jesus Christ. His Kingdom will then emerge as the fifth Kingdom (Daniel 4:44, 45), described as a great Stone that will fill the earth. We are drawing near to that big historical change even now.

Therefore, we should prepare our hearts and minds for the Tabernacles Age that is ahead. We should be encouraged that the divine plan is being fulfilled in our time. Though prudence and faith is required, we have no reason to fear. Only the Babylonians and those with a vested interest in the Babylonian system have reason to fear.

Remember Jesus’ words in Luke 21:28,

²⁸ But when these things begin to take place, straighten up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.