Mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin planned to capture Russia’s military leadership as part of last weekend’s mutiny, Western officials said, and he accelerated his plans after the country’s domestic intelligence agency became aware of the plot.

The plot’s premature launch was among the factors that could explain its ultimate failure after 36 hours, when Prigozhin called off an armed march on Moscow that had initially faced little resistance.

Prigozhin originally intended to capture Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Gen. Valery Gerasimov, the chief of Russia’s general staff, during a visit to a southern region that borders Ukraine that the two were planning. But the Federal Security Service, or FSB, found out about the plan two days before it was to be executed, according to Western officials.

[If so, how did Prigozhin roll over Rostov and Voronezh with such ease? It’s one thing to have the element of surprise, but if the Rosgvardia knew about it ahead of time, that makes Putin look even weaker than first thought. It also makes it seem as though Prigozhin lost his nerve, although his plan seems a bit delusional. How would Prigozhin have succeeded in taking over the Ministry of Defence without unseating Putin? It would be akin to attempting to unseat Beria while Stalin was still alive. At any rate, now Putin will likely have to purge his military leadership anyway, given their supine response to Prigozhin’s rebellion. And that will make Putin even weaker, at least for a while. — Ed]