As a US media report suggested that a top Russian general had known in advance about Wagner group's aborted mutiny against president Vladimir Putin, the Kremlin said that there would be "a lot of speculation" in the aftermath of the events.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov responded to a question regarding a report in the New York Times citing US officials as saying that Russian general Sergei Surovikin, deputy commander of Russia's invasion in Ukraine, had advance knowledge of the planned mutiny.
"There will now be a lot of speculation, gossip and so on around these events. I think this is one such example," Dmitry Peskov said.
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Sergei Surovikin has not been seen in public since Saturday when he made an appeal for the mutiny to be called off. He has often been praised by Wagner mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin who led the brief rebellion.
The newspaper cited US officials briefed on US intelligence regarding the matter, and reported that the officials were "trying to learn if general Sergei Surovikin, the former top Russian commander in Ukraine, helped plan Mr. Prigozhin's actions last weekend".
{{/usCountry}}The newspaper cited US officials briefed on US intelligence regarding the matter, and reported that the officials were "trying to learn if general Sergei Surovikin, the former top Russian commander in Ukraine, helped plan Mr. Prigozhin's actions last weekend".
{{/usCountry}}This comes as Prigozhin arrived in Belarus in his private jet from St. Petersburg while Vladimir Putin said that Russia had paid more than $3 billion for Wagner’s troops and for food supplied by Prigozhin’s catering company for the Russian army fighting in Ukraine.
“I hope that no one stole anything, or, let’s say, stole just a little, in the course of this work,” Vladimir Putin told a group of soldiers at the Kremlin.
“We will of course look into all this," the Russian leader said.