Putin's Pick For Wagner Chief Working Closely With Russian Defence Ministry: Report

The commander of the Russian mercenary group Wagner Andrei Troshev is now actively working for the Russian defence ministry.

In the latest round of developments on the Russian mercenary group Wagner, commander of the mercenary group Andrei Troshev is now actively working for the Russian defence ministry, as reported by the Russian state media, citing Kremlin. In July, Putin said that Troshev was his preferred candidate to replace previous mercenary boss Yevgeny Prigozhin, who died in a plane crash last month.

Russian news agency RIA said the news was confirmed by spokesman Dmitry Peskov shortly after President Vladimir Putin met with the Wagner commander as well as deputy defence minister Yunus-Bek Yevkurov. The three discussed how voluntary fighting units are being used in the Ukraine war, the Kremlin said. 

Putin Discusses Ukraine War with Troshev

Vladimir Putin met former commanders of the Wagner group and discussed how best to use "volunteer units" in the Ukraine war, as reported by the news agency Reuters. The Kremlin said that Putin had met with Troshev and Deputy Defence Minister Yunus-Bek Yevkurov, who sat closest to Putin.

Putin addressed Troshev and said that they had spoken about how "volunteer units that can perform various combat tasks, above all, of course, in the zone of the special military operation," Reuters reported. "You yourself have been fighting in such a unit for more than a year," Putin said. "You know what it is, how it is done, you know about the issues that need to be resolved in advance so that the combat work goes in the best and most successful way."

Ex-Wagner Fighters Return To Ukraine: UK MoD

Hundreds of fighters previously linked to the Group are likely to have returned to Ukraine, the UK defence ministry said, as reported by Sky News. The exact details of these fighters' status are not clear, the MoD said.

It is believed that they have joined official Russian military forces and other private military companies, as per SKY News. The Wagner veterans are gathering around Bakhmut, the city in eastern Ukraine captured by the mercenary group after months of fighting in May, where "their experience is likely to be particularly in demand," Sky News reported.

Many "will be familiar with current frontline and local Ukrainian tactics" having fought there last winter, the ministry said.