A shocker for US intelligence

Both the Wagner mercenary group’s mutinous march toward Moscow — and then its sudden U-turn Saturday — stunned US intelligence officials, a new report says.

Despite previous warnings that a mutiny led by Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin was on the horizon, America’s intelligence groups were at first caught off guard at just how far the mercenaries got in fewer than 24 hours, according to CBS national security correspondent David Martin.

“They were surprised when Russia put up no resistance and allowed Prigozhin to set up military headquarters in Rostov and send his army, unopposed, north toward Moscow,” Martin said on “Face the Nation” Sunday morning.

Then “they were surprised again by how quickly a deal was made. They had expected a longer, more violent affair,” he added.

The journalist echoed reports Saturday that said US officials, including congressional leaders in the bipartisan Gang of Eight committee, were briefed that such a rebellion could break out after word that Prigozhin was allegedly stockpiling weapons near the Russian border.

Martin said Saturday’s events were clearly not predicted by the US, given that Gen. Mark

Miley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, canceled a trip to Israel and Jordan to focus on the supposed Russian fallout from them.

Martin noted that Wagner’s rebellion jumped to the front of national security issues for all nations given the Kremlin’s hold on thousands of nuclear warheads.

“When a person like Putin is sitting on top of an arsenal of thousands of nuclear weapons, his problems quickly become your problems,” he said.