When Lukashenko called Prigozhin, German spies were listening: reports

The German intelligence service listened in as Yevgeny Prigozhin negotiated with Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko, on behalf of Russian President Vladimir Putin, to stop the Wagner Group’s march towards Moscow, according to German media reports.

A joint investigation by German public-broadcasting outlets NDR and WDR claims the country’s intelligence service (BND) knew more about the Wagner discussions than was first reported, including the intermediary role played by Lukashenko, who negotiated the end to the attempted uprising.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said BND had “not known in advance” about the uprising in a TV interview last week. The new reporting puts Scholz’s statement into question.

According to the media reports, BND received intelligence about a possible uprising in Russia led by the Wagner chief a week before it occurred but they did not let the chancellor’s office know because they could not verify the information.

"Reportedly, the first warning from the BND about the events was sent to the German government on Friday evening – the day before Wagner's mercenaries occupied Russian military facilities and the Russian city of Rostov," the investigation says. 

Last week, information emerged that Germany's Federal Intelligence Service had launched an internal review into its failure to predict a coup attempt in Russia and that its chief, Bruno Kahl, was reportedly facing resignation.

Current information, however, refutes such assumptions.