Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered one of the top commanders of the Wagner mercenary group to take command of the “volunteer units” fighting in Ukraine, the presidential office revealed this Friday.
According to the Kremlin, during a meeting in Moscow on Thursday, Putin told Andrei Troshev – successor in leadership of the group of Yevgeny Prigozhin, who died in a plane crash – that his task is “to deal with the formation of volunteer units that can carry out various combat tasks, mainly in the zone of special military operations”, referring to the war in Ukraine.
Wagner’s fighters have not played any significant role on the battlefield since the mercenary company withdrew after capturing the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut in the longest and bloodiest battle of the war.
After the failed mutiny of the Wagner group, weeks later, speculation increased about the future of these mercenaries that were one of the most effective units in the Ukrainian war, and several observers anticipated that the company would be integrated into the Ministry of Defense.
Deputy Defense Minister Yunus-Bek Yevkurov was also present at Thursday night’s meeting, a sign that the Wagner mercenaries are likely to serve under the command of the Defense Ministry.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed that Troshev now works for the Defense Ministry.
This week’s meeting appears to reflect the Kremlin’s plan to redeploy some Wagner mercenaries to the front lines in Ukraine following their failed June mutiny and following the suspicious deaths of Prigozhin and other leaders in a plane crash on August 23.
Troshev is a retired military officer who has played a leading role in the Wagner group since its creation in 2014 and has faced sanctions from the European Union for his role in Syria as the group’s executive director.
This Friday, the United Kingdom Ministry of Defense reported that hundreds of former Wagner group soldiers are likely to have begun to be redeployed to various battlefronts in Ukraine.
The military offensive launched on February 24, 2022 by Russia in Ukraine caused, according to the most recent UN data, the worst refugee crisis in Europe since the Second World War (1939-1945).
The Russian invasion – justified by Russian President Vladimir Putin with the need to “denazify” and demilitarize Ukraine for Russia’s security – was condemned by most of the international community, which has responded by sending weapons to Ukraine and imposing duties on Russia. political and economic. sanctions.
Source: TSF
