According to British defense officials, Wagner Group fighters believe that one of its former commanders, now tasked with providing troops to fight in Ukraine, is a "traitor."
According to Newsweek, the Telegraph reports, Russian authorities on Friday released footage of (Vladimir) Putin meeting with Wagner's former chief of staff and retired colonel Andrey Troshev.
The Russian president said he would oversee and create new volunteer combat units to carry out combat missions primarily in Ukraine.
And the claims come as there has been uncertainty over Wagner's future following the death in a plane crash in August of its founder, Yevgeny Prigozhin.
The accident came two months after he defied Russian defense authorities on June 24, when he seized military facilities in Rostov-on-Don and members of his private military company (PMC) marched on Moscow.
It is about the Wagner group that has been instrumental in Russia's efforts in the Donetsk city of Bakhmut and provides security for countries in Africa where the group gives the Kremlin access to valuable resources.
As Newsweek points out, sources connected to Wagner said Troshev had left the PMC after the mutiny and had been working for Redut PMC linked to the Russian Defense Ministry.
British defense officials said Saturday that Troshev was likely involved in encouraging Wagner troops to sign defense ministry contracts, a move among the reasons that led to the mercenary mutiny.
However, "many Wagner veterans are likely to consider him a traitor," the British Ministry of Defense said.
Meanwhile, it is noted that Putin's endorsement of Troshev and the Russian Federation's Deputy Defense Minister, Yunus-Bek Yevkurov, who has been seen visiting Africa where Wagner has a large presence, indicated that Russia would continue to use volunteer units and private military companies, and was "planning for Wagner's future."
In this context, British defense officials said on Thursday that hundreds of former Wagner fighters had been sought and had returned to Ukraine recently with the PMC or Russian regular forces.
While the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said on Friday that Putin's comments during his meeting with Troshev that he maintains relations with his former comrades was a further suggestion that the Russian Defense Ministry "seeks to use Troshev's connections with Wagner".
The institute pointed out that there were growing reports that Wagner's troops were operating in conjunction with the Rosgvardia internal security force.
ISW added that a Wagner commander is said to be negotiating for mercenaries to join volunteer formations under Rosgvardia on terms more favorable to the PMC.
However, "the partial landing of ex-Wagner personnel in any front-line area is unlikely to generate any significant strategic or even localized effects on the battlefield," ISW assessed. /Telegraph/
