25 June 2023, Sunday, 13:12 524

U.S. intelligence knew about Prigozhin's preparations for uprisal in RF – CNN

Editor: Roman Vaniyan

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United States intelligence officials believe that Yevgeny Prigozhin, the leader of the private military company Wagner, had been planning a serious challenge to the Russian military leadership for a long time. However, it was unclear what the ultimate goal would be.

This follows from a statement by CNN with reference to a source, the Ukrainian News agency reports.

The two sources said intelligence officials had briefed congressional leaders, known as the Gang of Eight, earlier this week about Wagner's movements and stockpile of equipment near Russia.

At the same time, a representative of Western intelligence and another person familiar with the intelligence said that American and Western intelligence officers saw signs that Prigozhin was preparing for such a step, in particular by accumulating weapons and ammunition.

The official also said they believe Prigozhin's claims about the lack of ammunition for operations in Ukraine were a deliberate deception to help lay the groundwork for a potential military challenge to Russian leaders.

A source familiar with the intelligence also said that "everything happened very quickly," it is difficult to understand how seriously Prigozhin is determined to threaten the Russian military and where he will lead his troops.

As the Ukrainian News agency earlier reported, on the evening of June 23, the owner of the Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, stated that units of the regular Russian army launched a missile attack on Wagner locations. After that, the Wagner fighters from the territory of Ukraine moved to Russia.

The press service of the Belarusian dictator reported that Lukashenko held talks with the Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin and apparently agreed to stop the movement of mercenaries on the territory of Russia.

After that, Prigozhin announced that he was ending his so-called "march of justice" and returning his mercenaries to their locations.