FSB instructed to kill Prigozhin – Chief of Defence Intelligence
Kyrylo Budanov, Chief of the Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine's Ministry of Defence, believes that after the attempted rebellion, the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) was assigned to kill Yevgeny Prigozhin, the leader of the Wagner Group PMC.
Source: Defence Intelligence press service, with reference to Budanov's interview for The War Zone
Quote: "We cannot talk about their profound influence (on Russia's war against Ukraine – Defence Intelligence) because all these events lasted for a very short time. However, some damage was caused to the Russian Aerospace Forces. Secondly, we do not expect that Wagner PMC will appear in Ukraine as a separate entity that performs its own operations. And I believe that this factor is quite important for us.
... We know that the task of killing Prigozhin was assigned to the FSB. Will they succeed? Time will tell. Either way, all potential assassination attempts won't be quick. It will take them some time to develop the respective approaches and reach a stage where they will be ready for a large-scale operation. But I would like to emphasise that this is a big open question. Will they be able to do this? Will they dare to carry out this order?".
Details: He added that any actions aimed at destabilising Russia from the inside are beneficial for Ukraine.
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. Ukrainian intelligence had information that Putin had 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 their field camps. The criminal case against Prigozhin in the Russian Federation was promised to be closed, and he had to "go to Belarus."
- On 27 June, Yevgeny Prigozhin's business jet flew from the Russian city of Rostov-on-Don to Belarus, with another plane arriving there from St Petersburg.
- The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) reported that the criminal case of the armed rebellion against Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of the Wagner Private Military Company (PMC), had been closed.
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