Mercenary rebellion against Putin cheered in S.F. 'Little Russia' neighborhood
SAN FRANCISCO -- News of a military rebellion against the Russian government was generally well-received in San Francisco's Richmond District, often called "Little Russia."
The Bay Area is home to nearly 100,000 people of Russian descent but, with sensitivity running high since the invasion of Ukraine, many people on the street are reluctant to talk about it. One young man inside a Russian bakery on Geary Boulevard was willing to speak but only off-camera.
"When I read the news for the first time, I was actually literally happy because I felt that we finally had a chance to change something inside the country," he said. "Even though I hate (the leader of) the Wagner group -- he is a murderer, he is a bad guy -- I was thinking that he can finally change his mind and make something good for the country and stop Putin."
Stopping Putin is a common sentiment in the largely pro-Ukranian community. Elena Sabry, a native of Ukraine, took delight in having Putin's own military contractors turn against the regime.
"What I believe is that Putin got what he deserved and what goes around, comes around," Sabry said. "These people, they realize that they shouldn't be part of Putin's agenda and now they got what they deserved, too! Everybody got whatever they deserved!"
Patrimpas Prapuolenis, a San Francisco resident of Lithuanian descent, said he's been watching closely as the head of Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, upped his rhetoric in a personal dispute with Russia defense minister Sergei Shoigu.
"It seemed to get more and more tense," Prapuolenis said. "And then, all of a sudden, they're talking about him marching on Moscow and I thought, 'what the heck is going on here? Is this going to be a civil war?'"
A civil war seemed to be avoided with the announcement that the Wagner forces were pulling back.
At the bakery, the young Russian national who left his country in protest, said the rebellion -- while not successful -- may have sent a powerful message to his countrymen about the fragile nature of Vladimir Putin's totalitarian regime.
"Russian people, they can finally see how easy to stop Putin," he said. "They might stop being so afraid of him. It's not only about how scared he is. Now, it's about how weak he is because he can't stop the military group. And if people go and grab some weapons, they can do the same."
In his angry rant before launching the uprising, Prigozhin announced that the war in Ukraine is based on a lie. The question is whether that message will make its way to the Russian people and whether it will make any difference if it does.