DISINFO: Prigozhin - Western secret services involved in preparation of military uprising in Russia
SUMMARY
Western secret services were involved in the preparation of a military uprising in Russia. The rebellion was provoked by the West, using the ambitions of Yevgeny Prigozhin, the founder of Wagner.
They knew about it weeks before the uprising. It is noteworthy that there was such a leak of information from Prigozhin's camp, but with a narrow focus: that the uprising was being prepared, that it would take place from the 22nd to the 25th of June, that is what happened. This suggests that everything was provoked. The West, according to everyone, pushed Prigozhin to take such a step.
RESPONSE
Claim not supported by any evidence, aiming at finding an easy explanation of the mutiny and to promote anti-Western sentiment by blaming the West for the events that took place in Russia on 23-24 June 2023.
Many aspects of the Wagner uprising remain murky but there is no credible evidence that suggests that any Western secret services may have been involved in it. This was an internal Russian issue.
While there was information that US officials saw signs that Prigozhin was planning a challenge to the Russian military, they were surprised by the rapid escalation. The US and its allies had ‘nothing to do with’ the rebellion in Russia, as US President Biden says.
The confrontation between Wagner and the Russian Ministry of Defence has been going on for many months. Tensions have been increasing since Friday, 23 June, when Prigozhin accused the military leadership, in particular Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu, of lying to the Russian people about the true reasons for the war in February 2022. He also accused Russian troops of attacking the Wagner Group.
The insurrection led by Wagner’s chief Yevgeni Prigozhin also has been triggered by Russian Minister of Defence Sergei Shoigu’s decree on 11 June 2023 ordering all Russian PMCs, including Wagner, to subdue to the ministry’s authority by 1 July. The order was rejected by Prigozhin, but Vladimir Putin ultimately backed Shoigu. Confronted with the imminent disappearance of Wagner as a private force, Prigozhin and his troops rebelled, advancing towards Moscow until an agreement with the Kremlin was reached. Absent any other element, the whole incident appears to be an internal feud among Russian political and military factions.
As HRVP Josep Borrell said:
''The most important conclusion is that the war against Ukraine launched by Putin, and the monster that Putin created with Wagner, the monster is biting him now. The monster is acting against his creator. The political system is showing its fragilities and the military power is cracking. So, this is an important consequence of the war in Ukraine''.
See our account: Prigozhin and glossing over Russian fragility and cracks in military power.
See other examples of similar disinformation narratives, such as claims that The US is behind the Ukrainian drone attack on the Kremlin, that the US is responsible for the assassination attempt on Zakhar Prilepin, that French secret services organized the murder of Daria Dugina, that the attack on the Crimea bridge was coordinated with foreign intelligence services, that CIA and MI6 staged a coup in Armenia.