Moldovan President Maya Sandu told the Financial Times that earlier this year PMC Wagner tried to organize a coup d’état, which was prevented.
“According to the information we have, this was a plan prepared by the team of [Евгений] Prigozhin,” says Sandu. According to her, the mercenaries from PMC “Wagner” wanted the protests against the Moldovan government to turn into violent actions. She did not give any other details.
Sandu believes that Russia will increase the pressure on Moldova. “They tried to overthrow the government, but they failed. And now they are trying to interfere in our elections on a large scale, using big money,” the Moldovan president said.
In February, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Ukrainian intelligence had intercepted “a detailed Russian plan to disrupt the political situation in Moldova.” Ukraine has passed the relevant information to Moldova.
The Moldovan authorities confirmed the information of the Ukrainian security services. In February, Maya Sandu said that saboteurs with military training could soon attack government buildings and take hostages. Sandu later accused Russia of waging a hybrid war against Moldova aimed at changing power in the country and establishing a pro-Russian government.
Meanwhile, it became known that PMC “Wagner” had ordered satellite images of the territory of Russia from the border with Ukraine to Moscow from a Chinese company a month before the rebellion, AFP reported, citing a source from the European security services.
In November 2022, the Nika-Fruit company, owned by Yevgeny Prigozhin, signed a contract with the Chinese company Beijing Yunze Technology for the purchase of two reconnaissance satellites of the Chang Guang Satellite Technology (CGST) space corporation, writes AFP, which has the same document. The journalists managed to confirm the signature of the CEO of “Nika-Fruit” Ivan Mechetin.
According to the contract, the value of the satellites and related services amounts to 235 million yuan ($30 million). The contract includes the ability to order images from other CGST satellites.
An AFP source in a European security service claimed that in late May 2023 – a month before the riot – PMC Wagner ordered satellite images of Russian territory from the Ukrainian border to Moscow. According to the interlocutor of the agency, the objects filmed include the headquarters of the Southern Military District in Rostov-on-Don, which was captured by the mercenaries during the rebellion, as well as cities on the way to Moscow and the Chechen capital Grozny.
AFP notes that Nika-Fruit’s contract with the Chinese company does not mention ordering photos on Russian territory.
According to open sources cited by the agency, “Nika-Fruit” is engaged in wholesale trade in food products. In particular, in 2019 the company sent several orders to the Central African Republic for Lobaye Invest, a company linked to Prigozhin. Lobaye Invest has been under EU sanctions since February 2022.
On June 23, Yevgeny Prigozhin accused the Russian Ministry of Defense of striking the PMC Wagner mercenary camp and announced a “justice march” during which he and his fighters allegedly planned to reach Moscow. By the morning of the next day, the PMC took control of Rostov-on-Don and reached the Lipetsk region. The “campaign” ended with an agreement between Prigozhin and the Russian authorities, according to which the mercenaries who decided to stay in PMC “Wagner” would be able to “go to Belarus”.
Two months after the rebellion, on August 23, Prigozhin’s private plane crashed in the Tver region. Ten people died in the crash, including Prigozhin and mercenary commander Dmitry Utkin.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said yesterday that he had been informed that fragments of hand grenades had been found in the bodies of those killed in the plane crash.
2023-10-06 20:00:12
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