According to a US military intelligence report, one of the secret plans of Wagner’s leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin, during his rebellion against Moscow, was to seize a Russian tactical nuclear missile base not far from the town of Rostov-on-Don, where Wagner’s forces had set up their headquarters at the start of their march on Moscow.

Taking control of such a base would have enabled Wagner’s boss to exert unbearable blackmail not only on his rival defence minister, Sergei Shoigu, but also on the head of the Kremlin. And beyond that, on the Western countries that support Ukraine militarily.

According to the American report shared with NATO, Wagner’s boss had accomplices among the officers in charge of tactical nuclear weapons at the base. An FSB investigation has reportedly been launched to shed light on this complicity. At the same time, an audit on this very subject is being carried out, under the aegis of General Victor Zolotov, within the Russian National Guard, described as the Russian army corps in which Vladimir Putin has the most confidence.

From the start of his rebellion, Wagner’s boss had sent numerous messages to the National Guard calling on its officers to join him. But his messages did not find the desired echo, because last April Vladimir Putin ordered the allocation of a large budget to equip the Russian National Guard with ultra-modern electronic listening systems. That’s probably why!