War in Ukraine: – Wagner in Putin’s “Private Army”

Pavel Prigozhin (25), son of the late Yevgeny Prigozhin, will likely lead what remains of the Wagner Group’s mercenary army.

Reports British military intelligence updated.

The British intelligence service also reported that the Wagner Group would now be affiliated with Rosgvardija, the Russian National Guard, which reports directly to President Vladimir Putin.

To “Putin’s army”

Already in October, the American Research Center reported Institute for the Study of War (ISW) That Prigozhin’s 25-year-old son was ready to take over the leadership of the Wagner Group.

ISW also reported that Pavel Prigozhin was in negotiations with Rosgvardija, often called “Putin’s private army,” about sending mercenaries from the Wagner Group to the front in Ukraine.

Rosgvardija is headed by Viktor Zolotov, Putin’s former bodyguard, and in theory should only operate in Russia.

At the end of October, “large parts” of the Wagner Group must have been placed under Rosgvardia’s command structure as a separate department, the British intelligence service wrote.

The result is that “the Russian state now exercises more direct control over the activities of the Wagner Group.”

Recruit again

The Wagner Group must have resumed active recruitment as well, British intelligence claims.

The group itself also announced this at the end of October. However, the Wagner Group has stopped recruiting from Russian prisons, according to a company representative.

The son (age 25) will take over

-We employ those who already have combat experience, including those who have already worked in similar companies. A representative of the Wagner Group said that the only difference is that we are now recruiting only civilians, not prisoners To the Russian news site 59.ru.

A significant proportion of mercenaries are said to have left Wagner for other Russian mercenary companies, including Redut, which also fought in Ukraine for Russia.

Armed rebellion

After a long and heated conflict between the founder of the Wagner Group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, and the Russian Defense Command, the mercenary army entered into an armed rebellion against the Russian authorities in June of this year.

The Wagner Group itself laid down its arms before reaching Moscow, and reached an agreement with the Russian authorities:

Among other things, Prigozhin agreed to transfer the mercenary army to Belarus in exchange for impunity.

– Find grenade fragments

But in August, the entire leadership of the Wagner Group died in a plane crash in Russia, including Yevgeny Prigozhin. It is believed that the incident was an assassination carried out by Putin’s power apparatus.

Putin himself claims that the plane may have crashed after those on board got drunk and accidentally detonated one or more grenades.