Gen. Kyrylo Budanov, head of Ukraine’s Military Intelligence Service (MIS), says the FSB was ordered to kill Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of Wagner’s mercenaries, after a military coup that undermined President Vladimir Putin’s authority.

“We have information that the FSB (Federal Security Service of Russia) received the task of killing him. Will they be able to do it? We’ll see with time,” he answered in an interview with the Drive website to a question about Prigozhin’s fate after he came to Belarus.

“In any case, all possible attacks will not be quick. It will take some time for them to develop appropriate approaches, and it comes to being ready for a large-scale operation,” he added, stressing once again that it is not clear whether FSB agents will be able to do this.

General Budanov is believed to have been the target of at least 10 FSB assassination attempts this year.

In mid-June, Russian media reported that he was seriously injured in a rocket attack on the building where his office is located, and he was rushed to a hospital in Germany.

After several days when he was not in the public space, GUR published a video with his message on June 20.

General Budanov says that Prigozhin could have provoked a civil war in Russia

When asked by Drive journalists whether he still believes that Vladimir Putin will not survive the war after making comments on this matter last November, the head of Ukraine’s military intelligence answered:

“If Mr. Prigozhin had carried out his original plan, Russia would have already been split in at least two parts, but since that did not happen, we will have to wait and see what happens next.”

“Because if Prigozhin had entered the empty Kremlin that day, he would have demonstrated to Russian society that the Kremlin is empty. There are no ministers. There are no high-ranking officials there either. They all escaped and would prove that there is no power in Russia,” he suggested.

Budanov argues that, on the other hand, some refugee officials in St. Petersburg and other cities in the country would begin to claim that they are exercising legitimate authority, which would split the country.

“But given that they [Kremlinul și Prigojin] they were able to agree, which they did, it gave time to the Russian leadership, the Russian authorities. However, their position as an all-powerful support of the government has been greatly undermined by Prigozhin’s actions and will never be the same again,” the head of the GUR noted.

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