The Wagner paramilitary group, now in turmoil after an aborted mutiny forced its leader Yevgeny Prigozhin into exile in Belarus, will no longer fight in Ukraine, the head of Ukraine’s military intelligence service said on Thursday.
“Wagner will no longer take part in hostilities on the territory of Ukraine,” Kyrylo Budanov, head of Ukraine’s military intelligence service, told Ukrainska Pravda, without giving details of how he obtained the information.
“And this is the most effective Russian unit that could succeed at any cost,” Budanov said.
Led by Prigozhin, the Wagner Group engaged in some of the bloodiest fighting in the wake of Russia’s all-out invasion of Ukraine.
Earlier this week, Russian President Vladimir Putin admitted for the first time that the Wagner Group was funded by the Kremlin, just days after he faced the greatest threat to his rule in his 23 years in power.
After Prigozhin’s failed uprising attempt last weekend, the private militia is now in turmoil.
According to an agreement with the Kremlin and Belarus’ authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko, Wagner fighters involved in the rebellion would be spared prosecution, while Lukashenko said Prigozhin would flee to Belarus, where he arrived on Tuesday.
Putin said Monday Wagner’s mercenaries could join the Russian army or “go to Belarus,” where Lukashenko had said he was ready to welcome them.