MOSCOW, June 27. /TASS/. Russian National Guard Chief Viktor Zolotov thinks that Western countries may have had prior knowledge about plans for an armed mutiny in Russia and were involved in it.
"Of course, the mutiny was prearranged, inspired by Western intelligence services, because they knew about it weeks in advance," he said on Tuesday.
Zolotov also added that there had been "information leaks" from "Prigozhin’s camp," which were "rather specific, about the fact that a mutiny is being planned, and that it would take place between June 22 and 25, which is exactly what happened." "It proves that all of this was inspired by the West, and, apparently, they instigated Prigozhin himself, or maybe his ambitions took over and he wanted a higher position," the National Guard chief said.
In addition, Zolotov pointed to the great work of Prigozhin’s speechwriters, as well as to the work of the Wagner PMC founder himself. "It was all organized very competently, very clearly, so I do not rule out that Western intelligence services may be behind it," he concluded.
On the evening of June 23, several audio recordings were posted on the Telegram channel of Wagner Private Military Company (PMC) founder Yevgeny Prigozhin. In one in particular, he claimed that his units had come under attack, blaming the Russian military for the incident. The Federal Security Service (FSB) launched a criminal probe into calls for armed mutiny. In turn, the Russian Defense Ministry slammed the Wagner boss’ allegations of a strike on the PMC’s "rear camps" as false. The PMC units that supported Prigozhin headed to Rostov-on-Don and then turned toward Moscow. Russian President Vladimir Putin, in a televised address to the nation on Saturday, described the Wagner group’s actions as armed mutiny and betrayal, vowing to take tough measures against the insurgents.
Later on Saturday, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, in coordination with Putin, held talks with Prigozhin, resulting in the PMC standing down, turning its units around, and retreating to their base camps. Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that a criminal case against the Wagner chief would be dropped, while Prigozhin himself would go to Belarus. In addition, the Russian authorities pledged not to prosecute those Wagner PMC fighters who took part in the mutiny in light of their "frontline achievements."