Vladimir Putin meets former Wagner commander Andrei Troshev
- Putin meets former Wagner commander Troshev, now with Russian Defense Ministry.
- Troshev was tasked with overseeing volunteer fighter units in Ukraine.
- Meeting follows Wagner group’s failed mutiny in June.
Vladimir Putin, the President of Russia, recently had a meeting with Andrei Troshev, a high-ranking former commander associated with the Wagner mercenary group.
The Kremlin has stated that Troshev has transitioned to working for the Russian Ministry of Defense.
Troshev previously served as an aide to the late Yevgeny Prigozhin, who was the head of the Wagner group and tragically lost his life in a plane crash in August. This incident occurred just two months after a brief incursion by Wagner forces near Moscow.
During their meeting, President Putin tasked Mr. Troshev with the responsibility of overseeing volunteer fighter units operating in Ukraine, as per the statement released by the Kremlin.
Addressing Mr. Troshev, the president said he could “volunteer units that can perform various combat tasks, above all, of course, in the zone of a special military operation”, about Ukraine.
“You know about the issues that need to be resolved in advance so that the combat work goes in the best and most successful way,” Mr Putin added.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the RIA news agency that Mr. Troshev “now works in the defense ministry”.
This meeting occurs as President Putin seeks to regain control and assert his authority following the mutiny by the Wagner group in June.
In a remarkably swift turn of events within a mere 24-hour period, Prigozhin orchestrated a rebellion, dispatching troops first into the southern city of Rostov and then advancing closer to Moscow, only to subsequently withdraw.
This incident marked the most significant challenge to President Putin’s authority in the past two decades.
In the previous month, the president issued a call for all personnel affiliated with Wagner and other Russian private military contractors to pledge their loyalty to the Russian state by taking an oath of allegiance.
Natia Seskuria of the Royal United Services Institute, a London think tank, told the BBC that the meeting and public praise from Mr. Putin is an attempt to show “he is in charge of the situation and he controls Prigozhin’s inner circle”.
“The fact that the Kremlin’s spokesperson confirmed that Troshev works for the Russian Ministry of Defence demonstrates that we are in a post-Progozhin era where the MOD is taking full control of the so-called special military operation in Ukraine,” she said.
The Kremlin “will still be relying on Wagner resources with greater caution”, she added.
Mr. Troshev is known by his alias Sedoi, which means “the one with grey hair”. He is a well-respected veteran of Russia’s wars in Afghanistan and Chechnya.
In recognition of his contributions as a Wagner commander in support of government forces in Syria during 2015 and 2016, he received the prestigious Hero of Russia Award.
Tragically, on the 23rd of August, Prigozhin, along with nine others, lost their lives in a plane crash near Moscow.
It’s worth noting that Prigozhin had been widely regarded as a figure with a precarious future following the unsuccessful mutiny.
It’s important to highlight that the Kremlin has consistently denied any involvement in these events.
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