The Colonel of the Airborne forces who was allegedly insulted by Defense Minister Serdiukov has made a few very short comments in the Russian media saying the following:
“Serdyukov expressed its displeasure with incomplete repair the dining room and engineering networks. “The conversation has been very emotional on the part Krasov, – said the colonel about himself in third person – and by Serdyukov. “But it was a business communication, – said the commander – the Ryazan School has already begun to address weaknesses identified during the visit of Minister of War. “
So it appears that the Paratroopers have received very strict orders from their Commander in Chief, General Shamanov, to “cool it”. Clearly, their main goal has been to weaken Serdiukov’s position and my guess is that his days as Defense Minister are numbered. Yet, for the Kremlin not to loose face it was important to avoid giving the appearance that the Airborne Forces had given Serdiukov the boot.
The next event to watch for will be whether the Airborne Forces Union will go ahead with the announced Extraordinary Congress and, if that event does take place, what will happen there.
This is all far from over, but it is moving into a much more covert, behind the scenes, phase.
The Saker
