The mercenaries of the Russian paramilitary group Wagner no longer participate “significantly”, according to the Pentagon, in combat operations in Ukraine, which assures Friday that it repelled a new night attack by drones launched by Russia.
“At this point, we do not see Wagner’s forces participating in any meaningful way in combat operations in Ukraine,” Pentagon spokesman General Pat Ryder told a press conference.
The United States believes that “the majority” of Wagner’s fighters are still in Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine, he said.
On the ground, Russia “attacked Ukraine with 17 Iranian-made Shahed 136 / 131 combat drones from the southeast”, the Ukrainian army said on Telegram, claiming to have destroyed 16 of them.
The Pentagon’s announcement comes a fortnight after the Wagner Group, which played a key role in Moscow’s offensive in Ukraine, sought to overthrow Russian military leadership in a flash revolt.
Evguéni Prigojine, boss of the group, had assured that his uprising was not aimed at overthrowing power, but at saving Wagner from being dismantled by the Russian general staff, which he accuses of incompetence in the conflict in Ukraine which began in February 2022.
The first details of the meeting between Yevgeny Prigojine and the Russian president, which took place on June 29 in the Kremlin, were revealed by Vladimir Putin in an interview published Thursday evening by the Russian newspaper Kommersant.
New commander
Mr. Putin thus claimed that he had offered Wagner’s men to serve under the official command of another person, but that Mr. Prigozhin refused this offer.
Wagner’s soldiers “could have been gathered in one place and continued to serve. For them, nothing would have changed, they would have been led by the person who was their real commander during all this time,” the Kremlin master said.
The newspaper specifies that the person mentioned by the Russian president is a commander of Wagner with the pseudonym “Sedoï” (Gray hair) and who, according to Mr. Putin, really led the paramilitaries on the Ukrainian front during the last 16 months.
“A lot of (Wagner commanders) nodded when I said that. But (Evgeny) Prigozhin, who was sitting in front, didn’t see it and said after listening, ‘No, the guys don’t agree with this solution’,” Putin assured.
In this same interview, the Russian head of state also pointed to the lack of official legal status of the Wagner group in Russia, where private military companies are not authorized by law.
“The group (Wagner) is there, but it does not exist legally! […] This is another question related to (their) effective legalization. A question that must be raised in the Duma (lower house of Parliament), in the government,” said Putin.
Wagner’s rebellion shook Russian power, in the midst of the conflict in Ukraine.
Wagner’s mutiny ended on the evening of June 24 with an agreement providing for Mr. Prigojine to leave for Belarus, while his fighters could join him there, join the regular Russian army or return to civilian life.
On Wednesday, the Russian army announced that it had received from the Wagner group more than 2,000 pieces of military equipment, 2,500 tons of ammunition and 20,000 small arms. Mr. Prigojine, had agreed to hand over to the regular Russian troops the armaments of his men after the abandonment of his rebellion.
Since the failure of this rebellion, rumors, unconfirmed in the context of the opacity of Russian power, also report reshuffles within the military command, in particular concerning General Sergei Surovikin, who has long been an ally of Wagner.