The German intelligence service (BND) intercepted a telephone conversation between Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko and Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin during an attempted armed uprising on June 24.
Izvor: Youtube/CBS News/Screenshot
Journalists from the ARD media group claim that German intelligence officers found out about the mediating role of the Belarusian president through wiretapping. The BND allegedly suspected that Prigozhin was preparing a rebellion and allegedly tried to verify this information with allies a week earlier, but to no avail. The service therefore did not inform the German chancellor Olaf Scholz about the probability of a rebellion by Wagner, so that the German leadership received the first warning only on Friday, June 23.
Izvor: Twitter/screenshot/francis_scarr_
Scholz previously criticized the BND, noting that unlike American intelligence, the German service “did not know in advance” of Prigozhin’s plans. He emphasized that he believes it is necessary to “discuss the activities” of the BND, which has always “tried to monitor the situation” in Russia.
ARD says that German intelligence was “pretty well” informed about the work of the private Russian military company Wagner as it allegedly had access to its internal communications.The BND began monitoring Wagner’s messages and calls as early as 2022, but then one of the officers, Karsten Linke, informed Moscow about the wiretapping. Linke was arrested in December in Germany on charges of treason for cooperating with Russian intelligence services.
The German intelligence service told reporters that it does not comment publicly on its work and any conclusions about their activities.
Yevgeny Prigozhin launched an armed rebellion on the night of June 24, accusing the forces of the Ministry of Defense of a rocket attack on the Wagner PMC camp. He seized the headquarters of the Southern Military District in Rostov and announced a “march of justice” towards Moscow. However, on the evening of June 24, when Wagner’s columns were 200 km from the capital, he turned them around and sent them back to the camps.
Izvor: Twitter/screenshot/DortmundaBerlin
Lukashenko suddenly appeared on the scene and announced the agreement reached with Prigozhin to end the campaign against Moscow, and the Kremlin will close the case against him for organizing an armed rebellion and allow him to move to Belarus with mercenaries. The intervention of the Belarusian president allowed Prigozhin to avoid punishment, including the killing of military pilots, whose helicopters and planes were shot down by members of Wagner during the riots.
US intelligence officials later told CNN they knew about the rebellion. They stated that members of Wagner had transferred personnel and weapons from Ukraine to the borders of Russia in advance, and that Prigozhin’s statements about the lack of ammunition for operations in Ukraine were “deliberate misinformation.” American intelligence also noticed that the deputy commander of the Russian group in Ukraine, General Sergei Surovikin, who had not been seen for weeks, knew about the preparation of the rebellion.
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Source: Kurir television
(WORLD)