U.S. intelligence officials had known since mid-June that Wagner leader Prigozhin was plotting an armed operation inside Russia
U.S. spy agencies picked up intelligence in mid-June indicating Wagner mercenary chief Yevgeniy Prigozhin was planning armed action against the Russian defense establishment — which he has long accused of bungling the war in Ukraine — and urgently informedagencies so they were not caught off-guard, several U.S. officials said Saturday.not clear until shortly before his stunning takeover of a military command and tank run toward Moscow on Friday and Saturday, officials said.
leaked documents show senior Russian leaders privately fretting about Prigozhin’s rhetorical attacks, which they found both credible and undermining of their authority.“Tensions between the Wagner Group and the Russian Ministry of Defense are no secret,” said a senior administration official, who did not comment on U.S. intelligence. “We have all seen Mr. Prigozhin publicly criticize, warn, and even threaten the Russian military on any number of occasions.
Putin’s inaction reflected a lack of high-level coordination in the Russian government and likely internal rivalries, U.S. officials surmise.resistance when he and his forces marched into Rostov-on-Don and took control of the Southern Military District headquarters there, Western and U.S. intelligence officials noted, calling that an indication he enjoys some level of support among regular military forces as well as Russia’s security services.
“But having an armed group make it to within [120] miles of Moscow is pretty serious,” the first U.S. official said.
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