The US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, in an urgent telegram on June 23, ordered State Department employees not to talk about the mutiny staged by the PMC "Wagner" and its founder Yevhen Pryhozhyn in Russia.
Axios reports this with reference to three American officials.
The publication notes that the urgent telegram, which was sent to all American diplomats around the world, showed the level of anxiety in the Biden administration about the events in Russia. And it also demonstrated how important control over public and private information is for the White House and the State Department.
In the event that representatives of foreign countries ask American diplomats about the development of events in Russia, they should answer that the United States is monitoring the situation, the telegram said. It was also noted that the situation is being dealt with directly by the Secretary of State and his closest staff.
According to one Axios interviewer, among those who received the cable, the impression was that it was sent to make sure that no American diplomat said anything that could give the impression of the US involvement in the events in Russia.
Another US official said the situation in Russia was unclear at the time the cable was sent, so Blinken wanted to make sure US officials kept quiet until more details were available.
- On the evening of June 23, the founder of the Russian PMC Wagner Yevhen Pryhozhyn accused the Russian military of hitting the mercenary rear camp, "a huge number of fighters died." The command for the destruction of the PMC "Wagner" was allegedly given by Chief of the General Staff Valerii Herasimov after a meeting with the Defense Minister Serhiy Shoihu. Pryhozhyn announced the beginning of the "march of justice", took control of Rostovʼs military facilities, including the airfield, and the "Wagnerians" began to move towards Moscow.
- On the evening of June 24, the self-proclaimed president of Belarus Oleksandr Lukashenko agreed with Pryhozhyn "about the inadmissibility of unleashing a bloody massacre on the territory of Russia." Then Pryhozhyn announced that they were disbanding the columns and returning to the field camps. After that, it became known that Pryhozhin would go to Belarus (Ukraine was assured that there was no threat of an attack by the "Wagnerians" from the north ).
- On June 26, Yevhen Pryhozhyn stated that he started the mutiny in Russia because the local authorities wanted to liquidate the PMC from July 1 and transfer the fighters to the responsibility of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation.