Both mutinous march on Moscow — and sudden turn-around — stun US intelligence: report

Both the Wagner mercenary group’s mutinous march toward Moscow — and then sudden U-turn Saturday — stunned US intelligence officials, a new report says.

Despite previous warnings that a mutiny led by Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin was on the horizon, America’s intelligence groups were first caught off guard at just how far the mercenaries got in fewer than 24 hours, according to CBS National Security correspondent David Martin.

“They were surprised when Russia put up no resistance and allowed Prigozhin to set up military headquarters in Rostov and send his army, unopposed, north toward Moscow,” Martin said on “Face the Nation” on Sunday morning.  

Then “they were surprised again by how quickly a deal was made. They had expected a longer, more violent affair,” he added.

The reporter echoed reports Saturday that said US officials, including congressional leaders in the bipartisan Gang of Eight committee, were briefed that such a rebellion could break out after word Prigozhin was allegedly stockpiling weapons near the Russian border.

Martin said Saturday’s events were clearly not predicted by the US, given that Gen. Mark Miley, the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, canceled his upcoming trip to Israel and Jordan to focus on the supposed Russian fallout from them.

Martin added that Wagner’s rebellion jumped to the front of national security issues for all nations given the Kremlin’s hold on thousands of nuclear warheads.

“When a person like Putin is sitting on top of an arsenal of thousands of nuclear weapons, his problems quickly become your problems,” he said.  

While global leaders struggled to keep up with the speed of Wagner’s advancement through Russia, Belarus President Aleksander Lukashenko revealed that he negotiated an end to the rebellion that saw the mercenaries quickly pack up and leave Rostov.

Kremlin rep Dmitry Peskov revealed that Prigozhin would not face criminal charges but instead be exiled to Belarus.

The fighters who marched with Prigozhin will also avoid prosecution because of their “service” on the front lines of Russia’s war in Ukraine, Russia said. Those who did not join in the “mutiny” will be able to sign contracts to join the Russian Ministry of Defense, Peskov added.