After a failed mutiny last weekend, the Russian FSB was tasked with liquidating the leader of the “Wagner” PMC Yevgeny Prigozhin.
This is what Kyrylo Budanov, head of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, said in an interview with The War Zone, reports Ukrinform.
“We are aware that the FSB was ordered to assassinate him (Prigozhin – ed.). Will they succeed? We’ll see in time. In any case, all possible assassination attempts will not be successful.” Be quick. It will take time for them to get the approaches right and reach the stage where they are ready to do major surgery. But I would like to emphasize once again that this is a major open question. Would you do that? Will they be able to carry out this command? Will they dare to carry out this order?” Budanov said.
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According to him, if Prigozhin had implemented his original plan with the uprising, Russia would already be split in at least two parts.
“Because if Prigozhin entered an empty Kremlin that day, he would have shown the public that the Kremlin is empty. There are no ministers. There are no really high-ranking officials there. They all fled, and he would show that it is so.” There is currently no authority in power in Russia. But on the other hand, some officials from St. Petersburg or elsewhere would start claiming that they were the legitimate power, leading to a two-power situation in the country that would be immediately divided. But given that they managed to come to an agreement, which they did, it bought the Russian leadership and authorities some time. Still, their stance as the all-dominant pillar of power was severely undermined by Prigozhin’s actions and it will never be the same again,” Budanov added.
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As reported by Ukrinform, on June 23, the leader of the PMC “Wagner” Yevgeny Prigozhin announced a démarche against the Russian military leadership, in particular against Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu.
As a result of the offensive, the Wagner-PMC column reached the Lipetsk region of Russia, 420 kilometers from Moscow.
Self-proclaimed President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko held talks with PMC Wagner founder Yevgeny Prigozhin, after which he said the group’s fighters would return to field camps.
Photo: Defense Intelligence of Ukraine