The head of the Wagner PMC, Yevgeny Prigozhin, was going to capture the Russian military leadership, the Wall Street Journal reports , citing sources in Western governments.
According to this information, the FSB became aware of Prigozhin's plan two days before the head of the Wagnerites put it into action. Foreign intelligence services also knew about him thanks to wiretapping and satellite images.
As a result, Prigozhin had to implement the plan earlier than he was going to do it, which, most likely, led to the failure of the rebellion. The plan of the head of PMC Wagner included the capture of Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov at the time when they paid a visit to the southern region of the country, bordering Ukraine.
According to representatives of foreign intelligence services, the original plan had a chance of success. However, after information leaks, Prigozhin had to improvise. The head of the Wagnerites hoped that part of the Russian military would join the rebellion and remove their commanders.
In preparation for their actions, the mercenaries were able to accumulate a large amount of ammunition, fuel, and equipment, including tanks, armored vehicles and air defense systems. Western intelligence also suggests that Prigozhin informed some of the Russian high-ranking military about his intentions, including the commander of the Russian Aerospace Forces, Sergei Surovikin.
After the head of the PMC Wagner realized that his actions were not actively resisted, he divided the forces of his mercenaries, sending one of them to Rostov-on-Don, and leaving the other to Moscow. He hoped that on the way they would be joined by rebellious servicemen of the Russian army. As a result, when this did not happen, he sat down at the negotiating table with Alexander Lukashenko, who invited the PMC Wagner to Belarus in order to strengthen his position in front of the leadership of the Russian Federation and prevent, in which case, the complete seizure of the country by Russia.
Earlier, The New York Times wrote , citing US officials familiar with intelligence data, that Sergei Surovikin knew in advance about Yevgeny Prigozhin's plans to rebel against the Russian military leadership.
On June 23, Prigozhin announced that the Russian Defense Ministry launched rocket attacks on the rear camps of Wagner PMCs. He promised to respond to the blow, which, in his words, "killed many fighters" and "to deal with those who destroy Russian soldiers." Those who will resist, Prigogine promised to "destroy".