Ukraine

I think his plan was initially to go to Moscow and then as the day went on, realized that it was going to be a bloodbath for both sides and not get anything he wanted. He seems to be sort of a hot head and just went off til he had time to really think it thru.

So yeah I think he came around to a point of "What the Fork! am I doing ..what we gonna do if we capture Moscow" and that scared him. He doesn't want to be President...he wants to continue PMC Wagner, make billions and live his life.

I think the plan was put together with others and he just abandoned them. Do Belarus offers safe haven ...quasi exile. But he is a targeted man by some who may not like his 180 turn.

Now word is there is no guarantee Shoigu gets canned.

Was there some leverage Putin had over him? Family?

I wouldn't drink any tea. Ever.

As for Putin he is gonna have to do something soon as a "show of strength" I think. What that is I don't know.
I hope his "show of strength" doesn't involve using tactical nuclear weapons on Ukrainian forces, units or major cities like Kviv, Kherson, etc. Still, if he did decide to use them in a limited, tactical basis, besides worldwide outrage, condemnation, and maybe even some saber-rattling from USA, UK, or other top NATO nations to intervene, he knows that is a perilous "red line" we won't cross to punish him because it would likely lead to a full-scale nuclear conflict.

I would also advise Prigs to never drink tea again, but honestly, they could just as easily poison his Coke/Pepsi's or even Kool-Aid/Flavr-Aid if they chose. Jim Jones proved that, albeit forcefully and against most his believers wishes, in Jonestown almost 45 years ago. KGB tried to poison one former Afghan Communist president who wasnt listening to their instructions in the late 1970's by poisoning his Coke-Cola but the plot wasnt well-organized, and the ambulance drivers who showed up to take him to the hospital werent aware of what was going on, and managed to save his life, for the time being. When the Soviets finally invaded Afghanistan in December 1979 and captured Presidential Palace in Kabul, Spetnaez forces murdered him and his entire family.