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Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin planned to seize two top Russian military
officials when he launched a short-lived mutiny on Saturday, the Wall Street
Journal reported on Wednesday, citing Western officials.

Prigozhin’s plot involved the capture of Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and top
army general Valery Gerasimov when the pair visited a region along the border of
Ukraine, the WSJ wrote.



Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) learned of the plot two days before it
was due to take place, forcing Prigozhin to change his plans at the last minute
and launch a march towards Moscow instead, according to the report.

Wagner mercenaries took control of a key military base in the city of
Rostov-on-Don, and his troops were approaching the Russian capital when
Prigozhin called off his mutiny.

When asked about the WSJ report, two European security sources told CNN that
while it was likely Prigozhin would have expressed a desire to capture Russian
military leaders, there was no assessment as to whether he had a credible plan
to do so.

There has been speculation about the role of senor Russian commanders as the
mutiny got underway on Friday night. The New York Times, citing US officials who
it said were briefed on American intelligence, reported that the commander of
the Russian air force, Gen. Sergey Surovikin, “had advance knowledge of Yevgeny
Prigozhin’s plans to rebel against Russia’s military leadership.”



Surovikin appealed to Prigozhin to halt the mutiny soon after it began, in a
video message that made it clear he sided with Putin.



Asked about the New York Times story, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said:
“There will be now a lot of speculation and rumors surrounding these events. I
believe this is just another example of it.”

One European intelligence official told CNN that there were indications that top
Russian security officials had some knowledge of Prigozhin’s plans, and may not
have passed on information about them, preferring instead to see how they played
out. “They might have known, and might have not told about it, [or] known about
it and decided to help it succeed. There are some hints. There might have been
prior knowledge,” the official said.

Even though the mutiny failed, Putin prestige has been dented, the official
said. “If that is what factions wanted, then that is what they got.”



Viktor Zolotov, the director of Russia’s National Guard, claimed Monday that
senior Russian officials knew of Prigozhin’s plans for a rebellion because
people close to the Wagner boss had leaked them, Russian state media agency TASS
reported.

Zolotov also claimed the mutiny was “inspired by Western intelligence services”
because “they knew weeks in advance.”

Earlier this week, CNN reported that US intelligence officials gathered a
detailed and accurate picture of Prigozhin’s plans leading up to his short-lived
rebellion, including where and how Wagner was planning to advance.

But, according to sources familiar with the matter, the intelligence was so
closely held that it was shared only with select allies, including senior
British officials, and not at the broader NATO level.

Prigozhin’s spectacular falling-out with Moscow’s high command appears to have
stemmed from a declaration by the Russian Ministry of Defense that it would
employ Wagner’s contractors directly. The move would essentially have dissolved
Prigozhin’s lucrative operations in Russia.

Prigozhin arrived in Belarus Tuesday, the country’s President Alexander
Lukashenko said. Russia says Lukashenko brokered the deal that ended the
rebellion.

CNN’s Luke McGee, Nick Paton Walsh and Tim Lister contributed to this story

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TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Dozens of Israeli air force reservists said Wednesday
they'll refuse to show up for duty if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's
right-wing government moves ahead with a contentious plan to overhaul the
country's judiciary.

The threat comes after Netanyahu said his government would proceed with the
overhaul after talks with the opposition to find a compromise faltered.
Coalition legislators have since been advancing a legal change to what's known
as the “reasonability standard” that critics say would allow the government to
pass arbitrary decisions and grant it too much power.



Israeli media reported that 110 air force veterans signed the letter Wednesday
saying that if the parliament passes the law that’s moving through the chamber
now, or any other law proposed as part of the overhaul, the reservists will not
show up for duty.

“Legislation like this grants the government limitless power with no restraint
by the judiciary and it will bring us to a point of no return,” the letter said.
“We will not serve the military of a country that is not democratic.”

Airmen are seen as the cream of the military’s personnel and irreplaceable
elements of many of Israel’s battle plans. Similar letters from reservists in
other forces have also been issued in recent days.

Speaking at a graduation ceremony of Israeli military officers, Defense Minister
Yoav Gallant criticized the renewed threats by airmen and other officers to stop
reporting for duty.

“The calls for refusal and the threats to stop volunteering undermine the basic
values of the army as the people’s army — and threaten its competence,” Gallant
said. “Anyone who calls for refusal is not acting as part of a legitimate
protest. He is harming the most important thing we have — the security of the
state of Israel.”

Netanyahu also spoke out against the refuseniks.




“There are no grounds for refusal to serve, on any side, nor will there be. We
have one country, one army and one home," he said. "We will stand guard over our
home like brothers and sisters, and if the day comes, we will stand behind the
flag united, and be determined like an iron fist.”



Netanyahu's government's plans to overhaul the judiciary plunged Israel into an
unprecedented crisis earlier this year, prompting a chorus of threats from
reservists, who make up the backbone of the country's mostly compulsory
military, that they would not show up for service if the plan is followed
through.

As the threats mounted, Gallant delivered a speech to the nation about his
concerns over the threat that the judicial changes posed to the military,
leading Netanyahu to dismiss him in a move that sparked mass spontaneous
protests and a day-long labor strike.

That pressure prompted Netanyahu to backtrack on Gallant's firing and pause the
overhaul. But once compromise negotiations stumbled, Netanyahu said he was
pressing ahead. Another bill in the pipeline would limit the influence of the
bar association, a key player in choosing judges, which recently elected to its
leadership a staunch opponent to the overhaul.



The overhaul has also sparked a protest movement that draws tens of thousands
each Saturday and which during the height of the crisis blocked major roads and
stopped trains, succeeding at one point in forcing Netanyahu to be airlifted to
the airport for an overseas trip rather than drive.

With the legislation moving ahead, the protests are set to once again ramp up
pressure, with another day of disruption planned next week.

Netanyahu, who is on trial for corruption, and allies in his nationalist
religious government say the overhaul is needed to rein in an overly
interventionist judiciary and restore power to elected officials.

Critics say the plan would upend Israel's delicate system of checks and balances
and push the country toward dictatorship.

The dissent within military ranks over the judicial changes comes at a delicate
time, as the army faces threats on multiple fronts and surging violence in the
occupied West Bank.

Israel’s military chief, Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevy, on Wednesday spoke out against
recent attacks by Israeli settlers against Palestinians in the West Bank.

“An IDF officer who stands by when seeing an Israeli citizen planning to throw a
Molotov cocktail at a Palestinian house cannot be an officer. This is our way,”
Halevy said.




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