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Business Insider

Russian mercenary company Wagner Group is starting to recruit fighters again three months after its disgraced founder, Yevgeny Prigozhin, died in a plane crash, two Russian media outlets reported.
And the fighters are led by the young son of Prigozhin himself, Pavel Prigozhin, reported 59.RU, a regional news outlet based in Perm.
The outlet wrote on Tuesday that it confirmed the resumption of recruitment with a Wagner representative in Perm.
Novosibirsk-based outlet NGS.RU also reported on Wednesday that Wagner has started recruiting fighters, citing a source in the mercenary organisation’s local branch.
However, the outlet did not mention Pavel Prigozhin in its report.
Social media accounts promoting Wagner’s Perm office on VKontakte and Telegram listed several requirements for prospective recruits on Tuesday.
What is Russia’s Wagner Group and why was it accused of mutiny?
In posts titled “We’re coming back,” they said those hoping to sign a contract will need a Russian passport for operations outside the country, records of their families and close relatives, and vaccination certificates.
Notably, the recruitment posts said applicants have to provide documents showing that they have no criminal record or history of drug abuse – a reversal of when Wagner hired Russian inmates to reinforce its troops in Ukraine.
However, recruitment was suspended on Wednesday evening, according to the accounts, which did not specify why.
Questions have hung over the Wagner Group’s fate since its short-lived mutiny against the Kremlin in June. Yevgeny Prigozhin, who was exiled for leading the march against Moscow, died in a plane crash on August 23.


Wagner’s central leadership was shattered when Prigozhin and members of his inner circle died in a mysterious crash. Prigozhin was denied a state funeral.
Pavel Prigozhin, 25, now stands to inherit much of the oligarch’s wealth and has been rumoured for several months among Russian military bloggers to be the successor to the Wagner Group.
A Telegram channel affiliated with Wagner, Prigozhin 2023, has also been touting Pavel Prigozhin as the organisation’s future leader.
Since Prigozhin’s downfall, observers have suspected that the Russian Defense Ministry would assume control of Wagner’s men and resources, with Western intelligence officials telling The New York Times in August that the ministry is trying to restructure the mercenary company.

The Defense Ministry has also established other private military companies to recruit Wagner’s men, particularly in Africa or the Middle East, according to the Institute for the Study of War, a US-based think tank.
Some of the mercenary company’s former troops appeared to be fighting in Ukraine under the Russian military, the ISW also reported.
But both NGS.RU and 59.RU reported that the Wagner Group has been absorbed into the Russian National Guard, otherwise known as the Russian Guard or Rosgvardiya. The branch deals with internal security threats and reports directly to Russian leader Vladimir Putin.
Wagner boss Prigozhin joins list of Putin foes who suffered mysterious fates
The Russian news site Military Review also reported on Sunday that Wagner would continue operations as a division of the Russian Guard. Additionally, the Wagner Perm office’s social media accounts wrote the same in their recruitment posts.
The reports and posts come after Russian military bloggers speculated for several months that whatever is left of Wagner might be absorbed by the Russian Guard, not the Defense Ministry, per the ISW.
A spokesperson for the Kremlin did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent outside regular business hours.
Read the original article on Business Insider


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Ukraine war

Ukraine war: the Wagner Group is back, led by Prigozhin’s son, Russian media report

Membes of the Wagner Group military company sit atop of a tank. Photo: AP

A portrait of Wagner mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin at a makeshift memorial in Moscow, Russia on August 24. Photo: Reuters

Vladimir Putin suggests Wagner boss Prigozhin’s plane was blown up from inside using grenades

A woman pays tribute to late Wagner Group chief Yevgeny Prigozhin on the 40th day since his death at an informal memorial in Moscow on October 1. Photo: EPA-EFE

Ukraine war: Chinese firm sold satellites for intelligence to Russia’s Wagner, document shows

A contract signed on November 15, 2022, between Beijing Yunze Technology Co Ltd and Nika-Frut, a company then part of Yevgeny Prigozhin’s commercial empire. Photo: AFP

The contract provides for the provision of images on demand, which allowed Wagner to obtain satellite pictures both of Ukraine and areas in Africa where its mercenaries were active. Photo: AFP

A contract signed by Beijing Yunze Technology Co Ltd and Nika-Frut, a company then part of Prigozhin’s commercial empire, for the acquisition of two high resolution observation satellites. Photo: AFP

New Yevgeny Prigozhin video suggests Wagner boss aware of threats before fatal plane crash

Yevgeny Prigozhin, chief of the Wagner Group, speaks while inside a vehicle in footage possibly shot in Africa and published on Thursday. Photo: Grey Zone via Telegram/Reuters

Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin buried in private funeral in St Petersburg

Flowers are seen on the grave of Wagner Group chief Yevgeny Prigozhin after a funeral at the Porokhovskoye cemetery in St Petersburg, Russia on Tuesday. Photo: AP

Police officers with service dogs patrol the Porokhovskoye cemetery where Wagner private mercenary group chief Yevgeny Prigozhin was buried, in St Petersburg on Tuesday. Photo: AFP

Kremlin says Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin’s plane may have been downed on purpose

A framed photo of Russian mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin is seen on his grave at the Porokhovskoye cemetery in St Petersburg, Russia on Wednesday. Photo: Reuters

Police officers stand guard at a checkpoint near the site of the crash of a private plane linked to Wagner mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin in Russia’s Tver region on August 24. Photo: Reuters

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Questions have hung over the Wagner Group’s fate since its short-lived mutiny against the Kremlin, and the death of its leader Yevgeny Prigozhin
Pavel Prigozhin, 25, stands to inherit much of his father’s wealth and has been rumoured for several months to be the successor to the Wagner Group


Questions have hung over the Wagner Group’s fate since its short-lived mutiny against the Kremlin, and the death of its leader Yevgeny Prigozhin in a plane crash.
