CIA Director William Burns called the brief uprising by Russian mercenaries “a vivid reminder of the corrosive impact” of the Putin regime. Burns is pictured testifying at the House Select Committee’s annual open hearing on Intelligence at the US Capitol in March.
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CIA Director William Burns called the brief uprising by Russian mercenaries “a vivid reminder of the corrosive impact” of the Putin regime. Burns is pictured testifying at the House Select Committee’s annual open hearing on Intelligence at the US Capitol in March.
Carolyn Kaster/AP
CIA Director William Burns says the aftermath of the recent incident cancel the uprising in Russia by the head of the Wagner Group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, is not going to end anytime soon and offers a reminder of the damage that President Putin’s regime has done to Russia.
“It is remarkable that Prigozhin preceded his actions with a scathing indictment of the Kremlin’s lying pretexts for the invasion of Ukraine and of leading the Russian military to wage the war.” Burns said Saturday in a statement. Speech at the Ditchley Foundation in Oxfordshire, England. “The impact of those words and actions will play out for a while, a vivid reminder of the corrosive impact of Putin’s war on his own society and regime.”
The intelligence official’s remarks came a week after the Wagner paramilitary force launch a march towards Moscow to protest against the alleged plan of Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu to eliminate the group of mercenaries and introduce their fighters into the Russian army. Wagner’s Force take control in a short time of the city of Rostov-on-Don in southern Russia and reached the outer limits of the capital city before stopping the mutiny. In an apparent deal with the help of Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko, the Kremlin said Wagner would not be charged for his actions and would move to Belarus.
In the months leading up to his mutiny, Prigozhin – once a close confidant of Putin – was strengthen his public criticism of the Russian military, accusing the top leadership of incompetence.
Burns considered Prigozhin’s uprising “an armed challenge to the Russian state.”
repeat President Biden affirms that the United States and its allies were not involved in the insurgency, Burns said the United States “was and will not participate” in what it calls Russia’s internal affairs.
Burns called Russia’s war with Ukraine a “strategic defeat for Russia – its military weaknesses have been exposed”, while NATO forces “get stronger and stronger”, he said.
Burns, the US ambassador to Russia from 2005 to 2008, has been closely monitoring Putin for years. After the CIA believed Russia was planning a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Burns met with Putin in late 2021. the visit made him frustrated and believes that the Russian leader is leaning towards an attack on Ukraine.
Burns said in remarks Saturday that Putin’s timing of “displeasure” with the war presents the CIA with a rare opportunity to recruit Russian intelligence sources.
“We are very open to business,” Burns said, noting that the agency recently posted on Telegram messaging platform “so brave Russians know how to contact us securely on the dark web.”
