GOOD DISTANCE: Vladimir Putin in a meeting with Deputy Defense Minister Yunus-Bek Yevkurov (centre) and Andrei Troshev in Moscow on Friday. Photo: Mikhail Metzel / AP / NTB
President Vladimir Putin (70) has brought in the former Wagner officer Andrey Troshev (61) as head of Russia’s “volunteer forces” in the war. At the same time, former Wagner soldiers are now going to Ukraine.
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Vladimir Putin has appointed former Wagner officer Andrei Troshev as head of Russia’s “volunteer forces” in Ukraine. Photos of Putin meeting with Troshev and the deputy defense minister have been published by the Kremlin. Britain’s military intelligence reports that former Wagner soldiers have traveled to Ukraine to fight with pro-Russian forces Yevgeny Prigozhin, former commander of the Wagner forces, died in a plane crash in August; his soldiers were then given the choice between signing a contract with the Russian armed forces or following Prigozhin to BelarusPutin designated Troshev as a potential successor to Prigozhin already in July. Researchers note that it may be a challenge for the Russian Ministry of Defense to ensure the loyalty of the former Wagner soldiers .View more
On Friday, the Kremlin published photos of President Vladimir Putin meeting with Troshev and the deputy defense minister.
Troshev will now become commander of the volunteer fighting forces in Ukraine.
– He is now formally employed by the Russian Ministry of Defence, according to Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov RIA.
– We talked about you wanting to start forming volunteer units that can carry out various combat missions. You yourself fought in such a unit for more than a year. You know what it is and how it is done, Putin says to Troshev, according to the report Kremlin website.
At the same time, Britain’s military intelligence reports on Friday on X that hundreds of former Wagner soldiers have now gone back to Ukraine, in groups or as individual soldiers, to fight in various pro-Russian forces.
TO THE KREMLIN: Andrej Troshev was a former Wagner officer. Now he will work for the Kremlin. Photo: MIKHAIL METZEL / AFP / NTB
– The challenge for the Russian Ministry of Defense will be how to ensure loyalty from this group of soldiers, who earlier actively chose to follow Prigozhin to Belarus, says Karen Philippa Larsen at the Danish Institute for International Studies to VG.
– Perhaps that is precisely why Trosjev is also in play as leader of the “volunteer forces”, continues the Wagner expert.
A brief summary:
At the end of June, the Wagner commander Yevgeny Prigozhin carried out a kind of coup attempt – but his forces stopped before they reached Moscow. Afterwards, his soldiers were given the choice between following Prigozhin to Belarus or signing a contract with the Russian armed forces. Yevgeny Prigozhin died in a plane crash outside Moscow on 23 August.
Putin himself already named Troshev in July – while Prigozhin was alive – as a good candidate to succeed Prigozhin as head of Wagner. Now the Wagner group is history, while Troshev has become part of the Kremlin’s further war plans.
– It is not immediately surprising that Putin has asked Troshev to stand at the head of these “volunteer forces”. After Prigozhin’s rebellion, Putin himself pointed to Troshev as a possible new head of the Wagner group, says Karen Philippa Larsen to VG.
Vladimir Putin in a meeting with Russian army men in the Kremlin on Friday. Photo: SPUTNIK / Reuters / NTB
– There is an exciting development of some of the Wagner soldiers who chose to join Prigozhin to Belarus, now apparently have chosen to go back to the fighting in Ukraine, probably with a contract with the Ministry of Defence.
She points out that Russia lacks soldiers and that through the former Wagner soldiers they get experienced guys – and who may also have experience from the areas in which they will now be fighting. The Danish researcher continues:
– Immediately after Prigozhin’s and Wagner’s rebellion, the Wagner soldiers were given the choice between signing a contract with the Ministry of Defense and staying at the front, going to Belarus with Prigozhin – or giving up as soldiers and going home. Officially, at least, it was said that the choice was theirs.
– Someone chose to say no to the possibility of signing a contract and instead went to Belarus with Prigozhin. It is likely that these soldiers we now see are on their way back to Ukraine, says the researcher at the Danish Institute for International Studies.
RED SQUARE: Thousands of Russians marked the anniversary of the annexation of four Ukrainian regions on Friday. Photo: MAXIM SHIPENKOV / EPA / NTB
– What is the situation for these soldiers now?
– It may be that this is the only option for them now, unless they take off their uniform and return to a civilian life, says Karen Philippa Larsen.
Andrej Troshev has previously participated in both the Afghanistan war and the second Chechen war.
He has been put on several sanctions lists for having been part of the Wagner group’s activities in Syria in support of Bashar al-Assad.
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Published: 30.09.23 at 02:13
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2023-09-30 00:13:06
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