blackout of wagner. essentially they re being removed from the internet, any mention of them. their offices are being raided. their recruitment posters are being taken down. modern air brushing. but now it s being reversed where once this deal was struck, now everyone is pretending like nothing happened. in fact, wagner merchandise, which has been sold online for many months now, was taken down. now it s back up and being sold yet again. so i m not so sure that wagner is going to get dismantled or that prigozhin is going to lose control of wagner. i think part of the deal is he gets to keep it. we reported yesterday that u.s. intelligence was aware that prigozhin was making preparations for this in some time. i believe the washington post reported the same. that shows a reasonable amount of information-gathering inside russia, an awareness, which we saw, including in advance of the russian invasion of ukraine. do u.s. officials know what s going on there? do they have a decent
his fighters. and accusing the military of launching a war in ukraine based on lies. early saturday, demanding the military leadership meet him in the city vowing to march on moscow if they refuse. news readers on state tv calling on wagner fighters to lay down their arms. in russia cities, authorities are tearing down wagner recruitment posters. security forces setting up roadblocks and checkpoints to protect moscow. bolstering security around the kremlin. the sea of russian power and the president himself seriously challenged. though the immediate threat appears to have subsided. up next nbc s chief international correspondent keir simmons sat down with president putin just before the war in ukraine. now he is back in moscow for us after the break. and later, what united states knew and when about this
news readers on state tv calling on wagner fighters to lay down their arms. in russian cities, authorities are tearing down wagner recruitment posters. security forces setting up roadblocks and checkpoints to protect moscow, bolstering security around the kremlin. the seat of russian power and the president himself seriously challenged tonight, though the immediate threat appears to have subsided. kelly joins us from kyiv. what is the kremlin saying tonight about the deal that was brokered? reporter: the kremlin says none of the wagner fighters will be prosecuted, and prigozhin will move to belarus. the kremlin calling today s events tragic. jose? kelly cobiella in kyiv, thank you. what do we know about the man behind the rebellion and what drove him to turn against the kremlin? chief foreign correspondent richard engel has reported extensively on him and the wagner group and has this report.