Officials from several NATO countries have appealed to the government in Kyiv to ask Ukrainian leaders not to order attacks on Russian territory during the military uprising launched by Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of Wagner’s mercenaries, CNN reported, citing a source familiar with the negotiations.

Some of Ukraine’s partner countries were concerned that the invasion of Russian territory at the same time as the “justice march” of Wagner PMC mercenaries to Moscow could be seen as helping Prigozhin and violating Russian sovereignty.

“The message this time was don’t rock the boat,” a Western official told CNN on condition of anonymity, adding that the message was conveyed at the level of ministers, parliaments and ambassadors.

He said Ukrainian officials had been told that Saturday’s events were “an internal problem for Russia,” and that position had been publicly expressed by the U.S. government and other Western officials.

NATO countries did not want to give “water to the mill” of Moscow’s propaganda

“Allies warned the Ukrainians not to provoke the situation. Use the opportunities offered on Ukrainian soil, but do not get involved in internal problems or strikes on military assets inside Russia,” the official was quoted as saying by CNN.

“You don’t want to feed the mill of this narrative thread, which [rebeliunea] was initiated by us. This is what the Russians have always wanted to prove the existence of threats to Russian sovereignty,” he explained.

The requests, made by some of Ukraine’s partners, come as forces composed of Putin’s opponents and backed by Kiev have recently made several incursions into Russian territory, in some cases causing panic in Russian regions bordering Ukraine.

Ukraine is also suspected of carrying out several long-range drone strikes inside Russia, but Kyiv denies involvement in any attacks outside its legal territories.

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