In addition to the White House, senior officials at the Pentagon, State Department and in Congress were briefed within the past two weeks on the intelligence, officials said. A key trigger for Prigozhin, officials said, was a June 10 Russian Defense Ministry order that all volunteer detachments would have to sign contracts with the government. Ukrainian military officials also were watching Prigozhin after the June 10 announcement and increasingly believed that he might mobilize his forces against Moscow, said a senior Ukrainian official. But Prigozhin’s real identity — and future — is wedded to his Wagner mercenary forces, the Ukrainian official said. It remains unclear why Putin did not take action to thwart Prigozhin’s takeover of the military command or his move on Moscow.

Source: Washington Post June 26, 2023 01:12 UTC