According to The Washington Post, US intelligence agencies had received information earlier this month indicating that Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of Russia’s Wagner Group, was planning some form of armed activity. Multiple unnamed sources cited in the report stated that US officials had alerted the White House and other American agencies about this intelligence.

An anonymous US official told the news outlet that there were sufficient indicators to inform the leadership that something was brewing, suggesting they were prepared for it.

Over the weekend, Prigozhin’s Wagner Group launched a notable armed mutiny within Russia. The fighters initially seized the city of Rostov-on-Don in the south and subsequently advanced toward the nation’s capital. However, Prigozhin eventually ordered his troops to stand down and return to their camps to avoid further bloodshed among Russians.

US officials informed The Washington Post that significant concern had been raised in the past two weeks regarding whether Vladimir Putin would retain power and the potential instability that a Russian “civil war” could cause.

The Wagner uprising was partially provoked by an announcement on June 10 by Russia’s Ministry of Defense, which mandated that all volunteer fighting groups must sign government contracts. This move was widely interpreted as an effort to bring the mercenary group under official Russian military control.

While Russian President Vladimir Putin had previously vowed to punish the actions of the fighters, Russia later declared that none of the troops would be prosecuted in exchange for Prigozhin’s exile to Belarus, according to The Associated Press. The deal also entailed dropping charges against Prigozhin for leading an armed rebellion.