GAVRIIL GRIGOROV/SPUTNIK/AFP via Getty Images; Mikhail Svetlov/Getty Images
- MI6 leader said Vladimir Putin is likely feeling the "pressure" of Yevgeny Prigozhin's rebellion.
- "Prigozhin was his creature, utterly created by Putin, and yet he turned on him," Richard Moore told Politico.
- Last month, Prigozhin's Wagner Group staged a brief mutiny against Putin's military leaders before backing down.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is likely feeling the pressure since Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin staged an armed mutiny last month, a top leader of Britain's intelligence service MI6 told Politico.
"Prigozhin was his creature, utterly created by Putin, and yet he turned on him," Richard Moore told Politico. "He really didn't fight back against Prigozhin. He cut a deal to save his skin using the good offices of the leader of Belarus."
After Prigozhin and his Wagner troops attempted to March on Moscow, it was revealed that Putin had cut a deal with Prigozhin: he could live in exile in Belarus and avoid charges against him for his rebellion.
Belarusian dictator and longtime Putin ally Alexander Lukashenko claimed credit for brokering the deal that had Wagner forces turn around just before reaching Russia's capital.
But Prigozhin apparently returned to Russia, meeting with Putin just weeks after he planned to overthrow Putin's government and undermining Putin's reputation as a ruthless leader, especially toward those that question his authority.
On Wednesday, Prigozhin took another oblique shot at Putin by criticizing his ongoing war in Ukraine, even as the Kremlin tries to keep the rogue leader quiet.
"Right now, what is happening on the front is a disgrace that we don't need to get involved with," Prigozhin said in a video posted to Telegram.