Vladimir Putin tries to organize the aftermath of Prigozhin. Just over a month from plane crash in which the leader of the mercenaries of the Wagnerthe Russian president assigned one of the most notorious commanders of the infamous paramilitary group to form new volunteer units to fight in Ukraine. The chosen officer is Andrey Troshev: a retired colonel better known by his nom de guerre of Sedoy, ‘grey hair’, and under European sanctions for his role in the war in Syria. Putin and Troshev were due to meet on Thursday evening, at least according to the Kremlin, which widely publicized the face-to-face meeting, complete with videos broadcast on TV: a sign that Moscow wants to openly show that it is aiming for the formation of new groups of volunteers that will replace or simply remodel the Wagner Group. But that they are firmly under the control of the Russian government.
Russia, Putin entrusts the volunteer corps to Prigozhin’s deputy
It is not for nothing that during the meeting Putin underlined that the financial benefits of the state for those fighting in Ukraine also apply to volunteer groups. However, the future of Wagner and her mercenaries remains shrouded in the mists of uncertainty. According to some American officials interviewed by New York Times, Putin does not want to give up the battlefield experience of these militias, for years the Kremlin’s armed wing in many war scenarios around the world and repeatedly accused of atrocities. And the groups of volunteers can be useful to Moscow to avoid new unpopular forced mobilizations like the one in September last year, although yesterday the tsar signed the decree on autumn conscription for military service which will affect 130,000 Russians.
After the mutiny of Prigozhin’s mercenaries – who died two months later together with his lieutenants in an air crash for which many suspect the Kremlin – Putin still wants to make sure that the armed groups are in fact loyal to the Russian Ministry of Defense (with whom Prigozhin, on the other hand, was in perpetual and open conflict.) And here Troshev could play a key role. In an interview given to Kommersant shortly after the Wagner revolt, Putin said that he had proposed Colonel Troshev, also originally from St. Petersburg, to replace Prigozhin as leader of the mercenaries, but that Prigozhin himself had opposed the choice.
It’s impossible to say whether things are as the Kremlin leader says, but sure Troshev appears to enjoy Putin’s trust, and Moscow underlined that the colonel now “works” for the Ministry of Defense. Putin’s order to form new groups of volunteers comes just two days after the Ukrainian army announced that it had spotted “about 500” former Wagner fighters among the ranks of the Russian forces: fighters who however – according to the unverifiable narrative of Kiev – would not form a separate unit but would be divided among the various battalions that invaded Ukraine.
Also two sources of the Guardian they claim that some former mercenaries have signed contracts with the Russian Ministry of Defense or with other pro-Kremlin armed groups, but others have refused because they are still linked to the deceased Prigozhin.
As the war continues, Dmitry Medvedev he returned to his hawkish statements by claiming to have witnessed the test launch of an unspecified person «modernized high-precision missile» at the Kapustin Yar range, in southern Russia. According to Tass, the number two of the Russian Security Council warned that the new missile would be developed specifically for the “special military operation” in Ukraine.
On the opposite front, however, President Volodymyr Zelensky announced that today «there will be important news for Ukraine, for our warriors, for our entire state.” Kiev, he stressed, is «working to ensure that the coming weeks add strength to Ukraine, internal strength, and the necessary cooperation with the world. So that the world listens to us, understands us and supports us.”
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Ukraine: media, Moscow conscription also in annexed territories
Russia’s autumn conscription campaign starting on October 1 will also officially include regions of Ukraine unilaterally annexed by Moscow, Kiev media report. The Russian Ministry of Defense announced yesterday that the conscription will in fact include the areas of Lugansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia oblasts. Previously, the deputy head of the organization and mobilization department of the Russian General Staff, Vladimir Tsimlyansky, had clarified that the soldiers conscripted during this autumn conscription «will not be deployed in the Lugansk People’s Republic, in the Donetsk People’s Republic, in the Kherson region or in the of Zaporizhzhia to carry out tasks in the special military operation,” as Moscow defines the invasion of Ukraine.
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