Pentagon chief: Wagner still has a substantial presence in Africa
The US states that a significant number of Wagner Group fighters have not been seen withdrawing from African countries since the death of its leader Yevgeny Prigozhin last month.
Source: European Pravda, citing Lloyd Austin, head of the Pentagon, quoted by Voice of America.
"Wagner still has a substantial presence on the continent," Austin said in Djibouti.
He said that in over a month since Prigozhin's death, the United States has not yet seen a "decisive shift" in Wagner's relations with the Kremlin or signs that Moscow has taken over the group's operations across Africa.
"I think what you'll see in the future here is probably some competition within the ranks to (see) who's going to be the next leader. I think you'll also see potentially the Russian government moving to either replace Wagner with some other kind of element or using Russian forces to support efforts on the continent," the Pentagon chief added.
Austin added that Wagner's forces are likely to be able to maintain their presence in Africa in the near future, but it will be difficult for them to do so in the medium and long term without Kremlin support.
Background: At the end of August, a plane crashed in the Russian Federation. Yevgeny Prigozhin, the leader of the Wagner Group, was among the passengers. All 10 people who were on board died, including Prigozhin's deputy Dmitry "Wagner" Utkin.
British intelligence expects the death of Yevgeny Prigozhin, the leader of the Wagner Private Military Company, to have a deeply destabilising effect on the group.
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