US officials speaking to The New York Times said Wednesday that a senior Russian general knew Yevgeny Prigozhin was planning an uprising, a claim dismissed by the Kremlin.
The US officials claimed that intelligence showed Gen. Sergei Surovikin, commander of Russian Aerospace Forces and deputy commander of Russia war effort in Ukraine, had knowledge of Prigozhin’s plans. The officials said they were trying to figure out if Surovikin helped Prigozhin.
It’s possible Surovikin and other Russian military officials knew Prigozhin was plotting something due to his frequent tirades against the Russian military establishment, but it doesn’t mean they were involved. Surovikin issued an appeal to Prigozhin calling for an end to the rebellion after it started.
When asked about the Times report, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, “I think that now there will be a lot of gossip, speculation on this issue [the armed mutiny] and so on. I think this is one of such examples.”
At this point, there’s no indication Surovikin was involved in Prigozhin’s mutiny, although the Times report came amid rumors in Western media that Surovikin was missing. Later on Wednesday, The Moscow Times reported that Surovikin had been arrested, citing sources in the Russian Defense Ministry. But the report has not been confirmed.
The Times report could be an effort by US intelligence to sow division among Russia’s military brass. Last year, US officials told NBC News that the US was making claims about Russia to the public even if they didn’t have the evidence to back it up as part of an information war against Russia.
This doesn’t begin to pass the smell test. Well, except for the “smells like amateur propaganda spin” test.
US officials speaking to The New York Times
Says it all. The United States of America is being run into the ground by idiots.
They only look like idiots to others, they’re really raking in the profits; war is good for business in the USA, peace isn’t.
Silly rabbit (bear), tricks are for Straussian neocons.
I wonder how US Intelligence would know the details of privileged communications between Surovikin and Prigozhin. I’ll bet the FSB is wondering the same thing.
I think it’s more likely that the FSB knows that there was no such communication and that the US propagandists are just throwing stuff against the wall to see what sticks.
US propagandists eject matter against the wall because they’re completely unaware that what they do is transparently obvious to all sentient beings.
Seems America today lacks those sentient beings as seen in the population who are still distracted and in denial of what’s coming unless things turn around quickly.
I’ll bet that nothing that comes out of the US government or one of its mouthpieces in the press is worth the toilet paper it’s written on.
They’re just joining the dots. A lot of info is open: plenty of “rumors” in Telegram and other social media, you don’t have to wiretap the Kremlin to know all that, just pay attention to what people is saying online, especially for the matter at hand, Russian people.
Sounds like we want to get him in trouble while they send Russia down a rabbit hole to make sure we really did not hear those two scheming even though they know we are full of Schiff.
We are just efing with them, they know it but they do have to go through the motions of investigations while we heckle from the sidelines.
It sounds like for a brief second, US got worried Russian nukes would fall in the wrong hands if there was a civil war in the Russian military ranks.
Yesterday it became clear that Surovikin and his deputy are nowhere to be found and it has been claime (although Russia rejects it or remains silent about it) that they have been arrested in Moscow. I wouldn’t be surprised if true: Shoigu is a dangerous snake and will take this opportunity to purge all his opponents. Putin is very clearly erring by taking Shoigu’s side. This may cost him and Russia the war.
Some people seem to think Putin is almost god-like, infallible, but in reality he’s made many errors. In fact if the Putin Regime would be that good, the NATO Nazi putsch in Ukraine would have never succeeded or would have been defeated by the growing resistance, which Putin hindered because he felt it was leaning to socialism and preferred to deal with the Kiev Nazis in negotiations. Only recently it became obvious to him and entourage that this was not possible, it seems. Putin falls under spells like anyone, largely because of his right-wing ideology, now he’s under the spell of Shoigu because he believes in hierarchy and silent discipline (which clearly Prigozhin broke with his endless criticisms, no matter how much justified they were).
Sometimes Western pundits are right. And in this case I believe they are (more or less).
The present team, and most notably Surovikin, is spectacularly successful. Why would Putin want to jeopardize this by demoralizing his cadre? making them have to CYA rather than fight??
Because of discipline and loyalty.
Also because Shoigu, who is a snake, has his ear.
I don’t know about the about the Western pundits being right, but I do agree with the Putin worshipping. Maybe they keep comparing him to Biden to come to their conclusions.
I don’t believe anything the west says about Putin. They are too invested in making him out as a villain, and they lie constantly about everything. I’ll judge Putin on what I see him doing and saying. And I see a much better leader than anybody the west has to offer. That’s not to say that he’s an angel. He’s a product of the system he came up in.
They are hoping Putin will begin to kill off his officers , it`s called sowing the seeds of doubt , a old trick for getting rid of people who are a thorn in your side .
US officials claimed that intelligence showed Gen. Sergei Surovikin …, deputy commander of Russia war effort in Ukraine, had knowledge of Prigozhin’s plans (mutiny).
so what. if so then that is Russia’s business for Russian’s to deal with.
what is uncle sam’s motive for using the NYT to milk the alleged Wagner ‘mutiny’ story ?
Yeah, like I believe the NYTimes. It’s now one of the biggest whopper machines in the USA media, right along of the WaPost.
I just read in a Spanish-language blog, mpr21, that Lukashenko persuaded Putin not to execute Prigozhin. Also that several personnel of Wagner, including colonels, were arrested in Syria.