Russian mercenary company Wagner Group has started recruiting fighters again, three months after its founder, Yevgeny Prigozhin, died in a plane crash, Russian media reported.
And according to them, they write foreign media, the Telegraph reports, the fighters are led by Prigozhin's own young son, Pavel Prigozhin, reported 59.RU, a regional news outlet based in Perm.
The newspaper wrote on Tuesday that it confirmed the resumption of recruitment with a representative of Wagner in Perm.
While Novosibirsk-based media NGS.RU also reported on Wednesday that Wagner has started recruiting fighters, citing a source in the local branch of the mercenary organization.
However, the newspaper did not mention Pavel Prigozhin in its report.
Social media accounts promoting Wagner's office listed several requests for potential recruits on Tuesday.
In posts titled "We are returning," they said those hoping to sign a contract will need a Russian passport for operations abroad, details of their families and close relatives, and vaccination certificates.
Notably, it said applicants must provide documents showing they have no criminal record or history of drug abuse - a reversal of the times when Wagner hired Russian prisoners to reinforce his troops in Ukraine.
However, the recruitment was suspended on Wednesday evening, according to the accounts, which did not specify why.
Questions have been raised over the fate of the Wagner Group since its short-lived rebellion against the Kremlin in June - following Prigozhin's death.
Pavel Prigozhin, 25, will now inherit much of the oligarch's fortune and has been rumored for months among Russian military bloggers as the successor to the Wagner Group.
A Wagner-affiliated Telegram channel, Prigozhin 2023, has also promoted Pavel Prigozhin as the organization's next leader.
Since Prigozhin's death, observers have suspected that the Russian Defense Ministry would take control of Wagner's people and resources, with Western intelligence officials telling the New York Times in August that the ministry is trying to restructure the mercenary company. /Telegraph/
