US intelligence officials were well aware of PMC Wagner Group chief Yevgeny Prigozhin's plot to launch his mutiny and armed insurrection, US media report citing their sources.
According to one media outlet, US congressional leaders were briefed earlier this week by intelligence officials on Wagner's military buildup and movements that apparently preceded their march on Russian cities this past weekend.
One source reportedly said that it was hard to discern, at the time, where Prigozhin would send his men and how serious he was with his threats against Russian military officials.
Another American newspaper also claimed that, while US intelligence was aware of Prigozhin's scheme, it decided not to make their findings public due to concerns that Moscow might "accuse them of trying to organize a coup in Russia."
On Friday, PMC Wagner Group's founder and head Yevgeny Prigozhin accused the Russian military of launching a strike against a Wagner camp, even though the Ministry of Defense denied his allegations. Shortly afterward, a contingent of Wagner forces seized control of several administrative buildings in the Russian city of Rostov-on-Don and started marching on Moscow.
Putin delivered a televised address to the nation on Saturday castigating the actions of the Wagner Group PMC, describing their deeds as an armed mutiny and treason, and vowed harsh measures against the insurgents. The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) opened a criminal case for inciting an armed mutiny over statements made on behalf of the head of the Wagner PMC, Yevgeny Prigozhin. The FSB noted that there was a threat of escalation on Russian soil.
Later in the day, the Belarusian presidential office said that Prigozhin had accepted Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko's proposal to halt the movement of Wagner troops in Russia and to take further steps to de-escalate the situation. Prigozhin later confirmed the information, saying that the Wagner troops were returning to their field camps.
Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Saturday evening that the criminal case against Prigozhin had been dropped and that the PMC chief would leave for Belarus under guarantees given by Putin.