General Sergej Surovikin, former commander-in-chief of Russia’s warfare in Ukraine, had intimate knowledge of Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin’s plan to rebel against the country’s military leadership.
This is claimed by US officials with knowledge of US intelligence The New York Times.
Whether more people in the Russian power elite knew about or supported the rebellion is still an open question, to which American intelligence must now work furiously to find the answer.
The head on a stake
– Putin has to make up his mind
Central for the Americans to find out is also whether Surovikin was in any way involved in the actual planning of the Wagner rebellion.
The man nicknamed “General Armageddon” was given the job as commander-in-chief of Russian forces in Ukraine last October, before being replaced by defense chief Valery Gerasimov three months later.
He is considered more competent and ruthless than other Russian military leaders, and is said to have subsequently retained his influence on warfare.
Precisely for this reason, the US authorities may have an interest in undermining his status, emphasizes The New York Times, as his eventual departure is considered an advantage for Ukraine.
Chief teacher in intelligence, Tom Røseth, believes Wagner chief Yevgenij Prigozhin will continue to lead the soldiers from his whereabouts in Belarus. Video: Bjørge Dahle Johansen, AP, Dagbladet TV Show more
Their sources believe that the Russian president must now immediately decide whether he believes the claim about the general, and if so how he should respond to it.
They also claim to see signs that several Russian generals may have supported the rebellion, without going into details about this.
NUPI researcher Jakub M. Godzimirski, who works on Russian foreign and security policy, believes that Vladimir Putin is now frantically trying to chart the same as the Americans.
– There may have been a plot among power elites in Russia, Godzimirski told Dagbladet earlier this week.
This has happened
Several thousand soldiers from the infamous Wagner group started an armed uprising in Russia on Friday evening.
The mercenary group’s founder, Yevgeny Prigozhin, spearheaded the uprising, with the explicit aim of overthrowing the Russian defense leadership.
The following 24 hours were chaotic. Several Russian helicopters were shot down, and 13 Russian pilots are said to have been killed.
Russian President Vladimir Putin used the word “traitor” early on about his former friend, but already on Saturday evening the convoy, which was on its way to Moscow, stopped after an agreement negotiated by Belarus’ President Aleksandr Lukashenko.
Yevgeny Prigozhin said he agreed to the deal to avoid a bloodbath.
He and the soldiers who took part in the uprising have reportedly been granted amnesty in Belarus, but much remains unclear about the agreement that has been reached.
2023-06-28 08:51:43
#Wagner #plan
