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No Russian PMC can compete with Wagner in its prime – Defence Intelligence of Ukraine

Friday, 3 November 2023, 10:36
No Russian PMC can compete with Wagner in its prime – Defence Intelligence of Ukraine
Photo: RIA Novosti

No Russian private military company can compete with the Wagner PMC when the latter was in its prime.

Source: Andrii Yusov, spokesperson for Defence Intelligence of Ukraine (DIU), in an interview for RBK-Ukraine news agency 

Quote: "We are seeing the formation and deployment of separate alternatives [to the Wagnerites], specifically Redut, Storm Z etc.

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But none of the said structures can be compared, either in quantity or in technical supply, with the Wagner PMC when it was in its so-called prime."

Details: When asked whether the son of Yevgeny Prigozhin is indeed in charge of Wagner at the moment, Yusov replied:

Quote: "Currently there are various reports about this. No matter what decisions are announced publicly we can state that the group which was formed earlier and received the name Wagner PMC has basically ceased to exist.

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This brand will still be used to a certain degree, specifically by the people related to it in some way. But this is the very reason why you cannot step into the same river twice."  

Background: 

  • The Kremlin insists that legally, the Wagner Group is not a private military company (PMC). Even though such a group of mercenaries does exist, the Kremlin has made no comment on its future following the death of its founder, Yevgeny Prigozhin.
  • The Armed Forces of Ukraine reported that former mercenaries of the Wagner Group who were in Belarus had signed contracts with the Russian Ministry of Defence and moved to the eastern front in Ukraine, while others went to Africa. 
  • UK intelligence has revealed that Russia’s Main Intelligence Directorate is recruiting Wagnerites to the private military company (PMC) Redut, which is helping Putin to avoid large-scale mobilisation.
  • Reuters has found proof that Russian Storm Z units, where regular Russian soldiers are sent as a punishment, have been participating in the war against Ukraine.

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