Russian President Vladimir Putin met with Wagner mercenary group commander Andrei Troshev and Deputy Defense Minister Yunus-Bek Yevkurov in Moscow, Russia. September 28, 2023. Sputnik/Mikhail Metzel/Pool via REUTERS
The meeting on Friday between the president of Russia, Vladimir Putin, with the former Chief of Staff of the Wagner mercenary group, Andrei Troshev, gave the services of the British Intelligence to understand that the president intends to continue using the operatives of this group. for its extensive experience though. the insurrection carried out in June by its late leader Yevgeni Prigozhin.
The United Kingdom referred to the images published this past Friday, September 29, about the meeting between Putin and Troshev, where the president entrusted Troshev with the formation of “new volunteer units.”
According to information from London, Troshev ended up siding with the official security forces this past summer by encouraging Wagner’s mercenaries to sign contracts cementing their relationship with Russian forces, against Prighozin’s orders. “Many Wagner veterans probably consider Troshev a traitor,” estimated the United Kingdom.
Wagner’s leader bluntly refused to allow his forces to end up under direct orders from the Russian Defense Minister, Sergei Shoigu, whom he considered incompetent. Experts understand that this contention is one of the main reasons for the short-lived uprising in June.
British Military Intelligence, in its analysis published this Saturday, understood the publication of the meeting as a “validation of the president” of Troshev’s work and indicated that “Russia will continue to use volunteer units and private military companies while continues to plan Wagner’s future.” .
Andrei Troshev, former commander of the Wagner mercenary group, attends a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Deputy Defense Minister Yunus-Bek Yevkurov in Moscow, Russia, September 28, 2023. Sputnik/Mikhail Metzel/Pool via REUTERS
British Military Intelligence concluded that it saw Putin as willing “to use the experience of veterans who have shown their usefulness to the Russian State”, especially in the global south and especially in Africa, “although probably under more strict supervision from the Kremlin.”
The United Kingdom Intelligence services indicated this Friday that “hundreds of fighters previously associated with the Wagner Group” have begun to deploy again in Ukraine, where they are fighting “for various pro-Russian units.”
“Over the past few weeks, hundreds of fighters formerly associated with the private military company Wagner Group have apparently begun redeploying to Ukraine as individuals and in small groups,” they said.
Therefore, they recalled that “Wagner Group withdrew from combat operations in Ukraine in early June 2023, before the aborted mutiny on June 24 and the subsequent death of Wagner’s owner, Yevgeni Prigozhin and others other senior officials in the plane crash on August 23.”
“The exact situation of the redeployed personnel is not clear, but it is likely that they were transferred to parts of the official forces of the Ministry of Defense and other private military companies,” they stressed, according to a statement published in Ministry. of Defense. British through his account on the social network X, formerly known as Twitter.
Finally, they point to the existence of “numerous reports” that “suggest a concentration of veterans of the Wagner Group around Bakhmut.” “His experience is highly sought after in this sector. “Many will be familiar with the Ukrainian front line and local tactics, having fought on the same ground last winter,” they explained.
In fact, Vladimir Putin asked on Thursday that Andrei Troshev, a senior member of the Wagner Group, whom he proposed in July as the new mercenary leader to replace Prigozhin, form “volunteer units” to execute “combat missions.” the framework of the invasion of Ukraine, ordered by the head of the Kremlin himself in February 2022.
