The leader of the Wagner paramilitary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, had ambitions to arrest senior Russian defense officials, but his plans were foiled, which explains his mutiny last week, he assures Wall Street Journal Wednesday.
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According to the newspaper, which cites anonymous Western officials, he wanted to arrest Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chief of Staff Valery Gerasimov during the latter’s trip to the south of the country.
But the Russian secret services FSB became aware of this plan and the two officials changed their modus operandi, the newspaper adds.
This forced Mr. Prigozhin to move ahead with his plans, and on Friday his forces, without much opposition, captured the Russian army headquarters in Rostov-on-Don, which was vital to the warfare in Ukraine, before beginning a march on Moscow.
- Listen to the chronicle of Alain Pronkin, specialist in religions QUB radio:
On Saturday he made a spectacular about-face and declared in an audio message on Monday that he wanted to save his organization and not seize power.
The Wagner boss, who has been in Belarus since Tuesday, has been accusing the defense minister and chief of staff for months of being incompetent and of having sent tens of thousands of soldiers to Ukraine to be sacrificed.
The New York Times also assured us on Wednesday, citing unidentified officials, that Russian General Sergey Surovikin was already aware of Mr. Prigoyine’s mutiny plans.
Russian National Guard chief Viktor Zolotov, a close lieutenant of Russian President Vladimir Putin, meanwhile, estimated on Tuesday, according to Russia’s Interfax news agency, that the uprising was “prepared and encouraged by the services of Western intelligence” and “knew about it weeks before it happened.” started”.