NEW YORK, June 25. /TASS/. The US intelligence agencies did not declassify the information they received about the plans of Yevgeny Prigozhin, the founder of the Wagner PMC, for fear of being accused by the Russian authorities of organizing a coup, the New York Times reported.
According to its version, the US intelligence services also remained silent because they "had little interest in helping Mr. Putin avoid a major, embarrassing fracturing of his support". At the same time, according to the newspaper, the US intelligence community considered the information about Prigozhin's plans to be both "solid and alarming", fearing uncertainty about Russia's nuclear policy amid the conflict.
Earlier, the Washington Post reported that US intelligence learned of the possible Wagner PMC rebellion two weeks ago and urgently warned the White House, Pentagon, State Department and Congress. CNN, in turn, reported that the intelligence community allegedly warned US lawmakers about the buildup of PMC forces, which allegedly indicated Prigozhin's willingness to challenge the Russian authorities.
On the evening of June 23, several audio recordings were posted on Wagner founder Yevgeny Prigozhin’s Telegram channel. He particularly claimed that his units had come under attack, which he blamed on the country’s military authorities. The Federal Security Service (FSB) launched a criminal probe into calls for armed mutiny. The Russian Defense Ministry slammed the allegations of a strike on the PMC Wagners "rear camps" as fake news.
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 mutineers.
Later on Saturday, Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko, in coordination with Putin, held talks with Prigozhin working out a de-escalation plan. Later, Prigozhin said that PMC Wagner was halting the movement of its convoys which appeared to be headed toward Moscow, turning them back and returning to field camps. Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that a criminal case against the Wagner chief would be dropped, while Prigozhin himself would go to Belarus. Besides, the Russian authorities pledged not to prosecute those at PMC Wagner who took part in the mutiny because of their "frontline merits."