Prigozhin planned to take Russian high military leadership captive – Wall Street Journal

Yevgeny Prigozhin, Head of Wagner Private Military Company (PMC), intended to take Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov captive during his attempted military uprising. 

Source: The Wall Street Journal, citing Western officials

Details: According to Western officials, Prigozhin planned that Shoigu and Gerasimov would be captured during their planned visit to the southern region of Russia bordering Ukraine. But the Federal Security Service discovered this plan two days earlier.

Viktor Zolotov, the commander of the Russian National Guard, claims that data was leaked from the Prigozhin camp. At the same time, it is known that the head of the PMC learned that his plan had been revealed and was forced to start the operation earlier.

According to Western officials, Prigozhin announced his intentions to someone in the top military leadership of the Russian Federation, including General Sergei Surovikin.

It has not yet been possible to establish the source that leaked this information to the FSB,  whether it was Surovkin himself or somebody else. 

Background:

• On the evening of 23 June, Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin claimed that the regular Russian army had launched a missile strike on the Wagner mercenaries’ rear camps. He has therefore deployed 25,000 of his mercenaries "to restore justice".
• Prigozhin claimed that his forces had taken control of military facilities in Rostov-on-Don, including the air base, and were heading "to Moscow" and that his soldiers had shot down at least three Russian helicopters. Wagner mercenaries have also seized military facilities in the Russian city of Voronezh.
• In an emergency address on 24 June, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Russia is "fighting for survival" and that attempts are being made to "organise a rebellion" in the country. At the same time, Ukrainian intelligence reported that Russian dictator Vladimir Putin has urgently left Moscow for his residence in Valdai.
• On the evening of the same day, after a conversation with the self-proclaimed president of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, Prigozhin said that his mercenaries were returning to field camps. The criminal case against Prigozhin in the Russian Federation was ordered to be closed, and he was to go to Belarus.
• Putin officially offered the Wagner mercenaries a choice: to join the Russian Defence Ministry, other military formations, or go to Belarus. The military company is preparing to transfer their heavy weaponry to the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation.

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