NEW YORK, June 29. /TASS/. US intelligence believes that Russian President Vladimir Putin has found himself in a stronger position against the backdrop of the events surrounding the Wagner Private Military Company (PMC) armed mutiny, American journalist and Pulitzer Prize winner Seymour Hersh reported, citing a knowledgeable source.

According to him, American intelligence in January assessed the conflict between the Wagner PMC and the Russian military leadership as inevitable. The journalist's source pointed out that Wagner fighters were useful in the offensive operations, but then the Russian forces turned to the defense. However, the Wagner PMC founder, Yevgeny Prigozhin, "refused to accept the change and continued on the offensive" near Artyomovsk (the Ukrainian name of the city is Bakhmut). According to US intelligence estimates, the military leadership in turn "let him use up his manpower and firepower reserves."

"Putin fully backed the army who let Prigozhin make a fool of himself and now disappear into ignominy," the journalist's source pointed out, stressing that this was achieved "without raising a sweat militarily" and "causing Putin to face a political standoff." "Pretty shrewd," Hersh quoted the source as saying. The US intelligence representative also said that "Putin is now in a much stronger position."

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 particular, he claimed that his units had come under attack, blaming the Russian military. 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 fake news. 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 June 24, described the Wagner group’s actions as armed mutiny and a betrayal, vowing to take tough measures against the mutineers.

Later on that day, 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." On June 27, the FSB press office reported that the criminal case had been dropped. Later, Lukashenko said that he had offered Prigozhin one of the abandoned units in Belarus to host the Wagner camp. He also promised him full security and the withdrawal of PMC forces to Belarus.