The “Wagner” mercenary group, founded by Yevgeny Prigozhin, a businessman close to Russian President Vladimir Putin, is not an independent organization, as it is wholly controlled by the Kremlin, Pentagon spokeswoman Laura Cooper said.
At the same time, he stressed that the cooperation of the “Wagner” units with the regular units of the Russian Armed Forces “is not a traditional relationship” between structures within the same army.
“But at the same time, Wagner is not a completely independent organization, operating as part of the entire Russian military invasion of Ukraine with the support and direction of Kremlin leaders,” Cooper said.
The Pentagon representative said that the Kremlin allows “Wagner” to recruit prisoners in prisons who are sent to the front in Ukraine. According to Cooper, there is a “symbiotic relationship” between Wagner and the Russian state and activities are coordinated.
“Wagner” fighters have been participating in the war against Ukraine since 2014, Prigozhin admitted.
More than 1,000 “Wagner” fighters have fallen near the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut in the past month.
