During Prigozhin's uprising, allies asked Ukraine not to strike Russia – CNN

Before the leader of the Wagner private military company Yevgeny Prigozhin stopped his so-called "justice march," allies at various levels appealed to Ukrainian officials with a warning about launching strikes on the territory of the aggressor state of the Russian Federation during the uprising.

The CNN channel reported this with reference to an anonymous Western official.

The concern, it says, was that Russia could see Ukraine and the West as helping Prigozhin and threatening Russian sovereignty.

"The message was not to rock the boat here," the official said.

He noted that the message was conveyed at the level of foreign ministers, deputies, and through ambassadors.

"This is Russia's internal matter," the official added, repeating what the U.S. and other Western officials have publicly stated.

He explained: "Allies warned the Ukrainians not to provoke the situation. Use opportunities on Ukrainian territory, but do not get involved in internal affairs and do not strike at offensive military facilities inside Russia."

The official stressed that it is unnecessary to "feed the narrative" that Ukraine or the West are involved in the chaos inside Russia, as the Russians have always wanted to prove that there are threats to Russian sovereignty.

As the Ukrainian News agency earlier reported, two days after the uprising of mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin, Russian dictator Vladimir Putin recorded a video message. It offered the Wagner fighters to either sign contracts with the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation or go to Belarus.

Also, for the first time since the uprising, the owner of Wagner PMC, Yevgeny Prigozhin, recorded an audio message explaining why he retreated 200 km from Moscow and stopped his so-called "justice march."

Meanwhile, the uprising of the leader of the Wagner PMC, Yevgeny Prigozhin, showed the partner countries of the aggressor state of the Russian Federation that the Russian dictator Vladimir Putin is a "downed pilot."

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg noted that Prigozhin's rebellion demonstrates a "big strategic mistake" by Russian dictator Vladimir Putin, which he made by starting a war with Ukraine.

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