Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with senior former commander of the Wagner mercenary group Andrei Troshev and Deputy Defense Minister Yunus-Bek Yevkurov in Moscow, Russia, September 28, 2023. Sputnik/Mikhail Metzel/Pool acquire license rights via Portal
- Putin meets former commander-in-chief Wagner
- Putin had praised Troshev as a possible leader
- Kremlin: Troshev works for the Defense Ministry
- Putin talks about volunteer units fighting in Ukraine
MOSCOW, Sept 29 (Portal) – Russian President Vladimir Putin met on Friday with one of the top former commanders of the Wagner mercenary group and discussed how best to use “volunteer units” in the Ukraine war.
The meeting underscored the Kremlin’s attempt to show that the state had now gained control of the mercenary group following the failed mutiny in June by Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, who was killed along with other senior commanders in a plane crash in August.
Just days after the Wagner Mutiny, Putin offered the mercenaries the chance to continue fighting but suggested that commander Andrei Troshev replace Prigozhin, the Russian newspaper Kommersant reported.
The Kremlin said Putin met on Thursday evening with Troshev, known by his nom de guerre “Sedoi” – “grey hair” – and Deputy Defense Minister Yunus-Bek Yevkurov, who was seated closest to Putin.
Turning to Troshev, Putin said that they had discussed how “volunteer units capable of carrying out various combat tasks, especially, of course, in the area of special military operations.”
“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 what problems need to be solved in advance so that combat work goes optimally and successfully.”
Putin also said he wanted to talk about social support for those involved in the fighting. The meeting took place in the Kremlin and was broadcast on state television.
Troshev was shown listening to Putin, leaning forward and nodding, pencil in hand. His comments were not shown.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the RIA news agency that Troshev now works in the Defense Ministry.
The fate of Wagner, one of the world’s most battle-hardened mercenary troops, has been unclear since Prigozhin’s failed mutiny on June 23 and his death on August 23.
The failed mutiny is widely seen as the biggest internal challenge to Putin – and the Russian state – in decades. Prigozhin said the mutiny was not aimed at overthrowing Putin but at settling scores with Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov.
After Prigozhin’s death, Putin ordered the Wagner fighters to sign an oath of loyalty to the Russian state – a move that Prigozhin rejected.
The meeting with Putin appears to indicate that Wagner’s remnants are now being overseen by Troshev and Yevkurov, who have toured several countries where the mercenaries work in recent months.
Troshev is a decorated veteran of the Russian wars in Afghanistan and Chechnya and a former commander of the Interior Ministry’s rapid reaction force SOBR. He is from St. Petersburg, Putin’s hometown, and was photographed with the president.
He was awarded Russia’s highest medal, Hero of Russia, in 2016 for storming Palmyra in Syria against Islamic State militants.
reporting by Portal; Edited by Guy Faulconbridge
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