The New York Times claimed that General Sergey Surovikin, the deputy commander of Russia’s military operations in Ukraine, knew mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin was organizing a mutiny against Moscow’s defense officials.
The newspaper said U.S. officials briefed on U.S. intelligence as “trying to learn if Gen. Sergey Surovikin, the former top Russian commander in Ukraine, helped plan Mr. Prigozhin’s actions last weekend.”
President Vladimir Putin congratulated his armed forces for preventing a civil war as Prigozhin traveled to Belarus on Tuesday to end a Wagner fighter mutiny over the weekend.
American officials told the New York Times that additional Russian generals may have supported Prigozhin.
The report was unconfirmed by Reuters.
Reuters’ request for a Pentagon statement was not immediately answered. Reuters also received no response from the Kremlin or the Russian defense ministry.
In October, Surovikin, dubbed “General Armageddon” by Russian media, took command of Ukraine operations. In January, Russian Defence Minister Sergei
Shoigu selected Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov to lead the campaign, with Surovikin as his deputy.
Before the mutiny, Prigozhin blamed Shoigu and Gerasimov for the campaign’s shortcomings and the army’s lack of Wagner fighter support.
Before Prigozhin’s “march for justice,” Surovikin advised the Wagner group to end their antagonism with the military command and return to their bases. Prigozhin stopped marching near Moscow after starting from Rostov-on-Don over the weekend.
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