WASHINGTON: Wagner army chief Yevgeny Prigozhin aimed to detain the heads of the Russian military in last week’s mutiny, but they discovered his planned rebellion early and avoided capture, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday. But the Russian domestic security service FSB learned of the plan and Shoigu and Gerasimov changed their travel, the Journal said, citing unnamed officials. That forced Prigozhin to move early, and on Friday his Wagner forces seized control of the headquarters of the Russian Southern Military District in Rostov-on-Don, a key logistics and command centre for the war on Ukraine. “What are the real intentions of the Wagner Group forces, in other words, the Russian army, precisely in Belarus? “Is it a form of potential threat precisely towards our countries, towards Nato countries, towards Poland?” Duda added, speaking next to his Lithuanian and Ukrainian counterparts.

Source: Wall Street Journal June 29, 2023 01:42 UTC