Peskov called data on Surovikin’s alleged knowledge of the preparation of a rebellion speculation

Media publications that the deputy commander of the joint group of Russian troops, Sergei Surovikin, allegedly knew in advance about the impending armed rebellion, are speculation. This statement was made by the press secretary of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov.

“Now there will be a lot of various speculations, gossip and so on around these events. I think this is one of those examples,” he said.

On June 27, The New York Times (NYT), citing American officials who have data from US intelligence agencies, reported that Surovikin allegedly knew in advance about the plans of Yevgeny Prigozhin, the founder of Wagner PMC, to organize an armed rebellion.

On June 23, the FSB opened a criminal case against Prigozhin on the fact of organizing an armed rebellion (under Article 279 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). The case was opened after Prigozhin accused the Russian Defense Ministry of attacking the company’s rear camps. The founder of Wagner said that the responsibility for the strike lay with the “military leadership” of the country and promised to respond to the attack. The Ministry of Defense denied the information, calling the message a provocation.

June 27 FSB stopped criminal case, explaining his decision by the fact that the participants in the armed rebellion stopped illegal actions on June 24.

On June 24, Wagner PMC took control of military facilities in Rostov-on-Don and blockaded the city. Then the PMC fighters stopped on the territory of the Lipetsk region, before reaching the capital, as Prigozhin claimed, 200 km. In Moscow, the Moscow region and the Voronezh region, a counter-terrorist operation (CTO) regime was introduced, which was removed on June 26.

In connection with the developing events, Putin made an appeal. Happening he named “apostasy from his people”, “stab in the back” to the country and “internal betrayal”. The Russian leader stressed that the actions against the organizers of the military rebellion will be tough, they will suffer “inevitable punishment.”

On the evening of June 24, after negotiations with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, Prigozhin decided to stop the movement towards Moscow and return to the rear camps of PMCs. In the Kremlin explainedthat, as a result of the negotiations, an agreement was reached: the criminal case initiated against Prigozhin would be terminated, and he himself would “leave for Belarus.”