Kremlin’s Peskov, asked if top general knew of mutiny in advance, says there’s a lot of gossip
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Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said there would be "a lot of speculation, gossip and so on".
PHOTO: AFP
MOSCOW - The Kremlin, asked on Wednesday about a US media report suggesting a top Russian general had known in advance about last Saturday’s aborted mutiny by mercenaries,
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was responding to a question regarding a report in the New York Times newspaper citing US officials as saying that General Sergei Surovikin, the deputy commander of Russia’s military operations 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,” said Mr Peskov.
General Surovikin, who has not been seen in public since Saturday when he made an appeal for the mutiny to be called off, 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 Gen Sergei Surovikin, the former top Russian commander in Ukraine, helped plan Mr Prigozhin’s actions last weekend”. REUTERS
