Is this exiled general back in Putins favour?

When former Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin returned to Russia last July after his aborted rebellion against Vladimir Putin, there was speculation that he might be back in favour in Moscow. A few weeks later, he was dead possibly on orders handed down from the Russian President. Now another Kremlin outcast, Sergei Surovikin, may be returning to the fold, if online reports are to be believed.

Surovikin, dismissed last year from his role as commander-in-chief of the Russian Aerospace Forces, is rumoured to be coming back from Algeria to take up the position of Chief of the General Staff this month. Regional experts have questioned whether a video in circulation of Surovikin onboard a plane entering Russia is recent or from before his dismissal last year, though multiple sources support the claim that he really is returning. Best to avoid any open windows, Sergei

Talk about a realignment. Of the Britons who plumped for the Liberal Democrats in 2019, 45% now intend to vote for Sir Keir Starmers Labour in the upcoming general election. Thats marginally more than the 44% of the 2019 Lib Dem contingent planning to vote for Ed Daveys party this time around, according to a new YouGov poll.

But thats only part of the great political switch-up registered by the poll. While the Labour Party has hoovered up a big chunk of the 2019 Conservative vote, the party has also lost almost 10% of its voters from five years ago to the Green Party. Unsurprisingly, just over a quarter of the 2019 Tory vote has gone to Reform, following on from Lee Anderson. The 3% who flipped from Lib Dem to Reform must be an interesting bunch

Vivek Ramaswamy has a reputation for defending contentious, even unsavoury, speech. Having stood up for free expression on the campaign trail, hes having to do the same on his own podcast, after a particularly outspoken from his most recent guest, Right-wing commentator Ann Coulter.

I agree with many, many things you said when you were running for president, she told the former Republican presidential candidate. But I still would not have voted for you, because youre an Indian.

Ramaswamy went on to praise Coulter after the interview for having the guts to speak her mind and, never one to shy from controversy, titled the episode Ann Coulter on the N word: nationalism.

Originally posted here:

Is this exiled general back in Putin's favour? - UnHerd