A month after the death of mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin, the Wagner group returned to the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine, the Ukrainian army confirmed on Wednesday (27).
According to Ukrainian authorities, mercenaries from the Wagner Group returned to the country from Belarus, north of Ukraine.
However, the spokesman for the Eastern Group of the Ukrainian Armed Forces stated that they did not pose a significant threat.
According to Ilia Yevlash, these are mercenaries who were in Belarus as part of an agreement between the Wagner Group and Russia not to punish those who followed the failed uprising led by Prigozhin.
The camps that were previously located in some Belarusian border regions with Poland will be closed.
Yevlash reported that there were around 8,000 mercenaries there, but some went to Africa, others renewed contracts with the Russian Ministry of Defense and returned to the region.
However, he stressed that these mercenaries did not pose a “significant threat” as they numbered only about 500 soldiers and did not have the leadership of Prigozhin, who died in an attack last August.
Yevlash’s statements are consistent with information from CNN, which also reported, based on Ukrainian soldiers, that mercenaries from the Wagner group had returned to Bakhmut.
There are reports of new commanders poised to replace departed leaders, possibly on Moscow’s orders. However, according to Yevlash, there is no strong leadership like Prigozhin.